Digimon Net
by kajoqixuye
Summary: While looking into the disappearance of his brother Tom, Tyler Grayson suddenly finds himself in a world he never expected, where both friends and enemies are abundant and danger can always be found around the corner. To save Tom and make it out in one piece, he and his companions will have to face violent bullies, interpersonal conflicts, and evils of unimaginable power…
1. Prologue

Prologue

Thomas Grayson had to admit, he felt like a kid again. How many times had he wished he could go on an adventure like this? Admittedly, it wasn't really him, it was an avatar…but, then again, hadn't the process leading up to this been something of an adventure in itself? He had gotten to use his imagination and his skills to create something that he was genuinely excited about. Something that he and thousands of other people could enjoy. Was it a little juvenile? Maybe. But there were a whole lot of people who felt similarly to him about this, and it wasn't his place to determine whether _their_ actions were appropriate for their ages. And he knew that they would love this. Granted, it wasn't quite the first of its kind—but it did have some original features that weren't found anywhere else.

They still had a lot to do…but for the moment, that wasn't so important as what they had already done. They had a working prototype, which was what he was testing right now. He had already found several problems, but that was to be expected, and he was confident that they could work things out. And when they did, they would finally be able to release it. To show the world their great project:

Digimon Net. The next big advancement in the Digimon franchise.

Tom's fingers moved across the keyboard, guiding his character through their Digital World. Behind him was his partner, whom he had chosen at the beginning of his game. This was an original creation of his; he had put a lot of effort into this, helping with the design of eight new Digimon and their evolutionary was testing the current version with his personal favorite, a Digimon named Ignemon, a rocky quadruped with fairly short legs, but a long tail and neck. It was a slow Digimon, but powerful, in terms of both Strength and Defense stats. At the moment, it was in its Ultimate form, CorunAmpelomon, whose crystals covering its body provided a strong shield, and whose twin tails could whip around and smash into enemies, causing a lot of damage. But, a few seconds later, CorunAmpelomon's Digivolve Meter ran out, and he reverted to his Rookie form. Tom had to crack a smile—CorunAmpelomon was big and powerful, but Ignemon was kind of cute, really.

Tom yawned widely, and his eyes wandered to the clock on his desktop. _1:15…_ He really should get to bed…

He turned back to the screen. He had been playing for hours, for a large part of the day, but the entire adventure was much too long to be completed in even that much time. That, and one of the features of this game was that the player's avatar (and Digimon) required regular rest (as well as food). He would need to put his avatar and Ignemon in Sleep Mode. And anyways, his report on the prototype wasn't expected for several days. He had plenty of time to complete this adventure. Maybe even do another, to get a better idea of anything that needed to be fixed.

He sighed. Yeah, it would be good to get to bed. Running his fingers over the trackpad, he moved the mouse to select the Quit option. His game data was automatically saved, so he didn't need to worry about losing his progress. With some regret, he clicked, and watched as the image of his avatar and partner Digimon disappeared. Yawning again, he went off to the bathroom.

However, when he returned a few minutes later, he had thought of something he wanted to check. Though he had first decided that it could wait until the next day, it had continued to nag at him, and so he had decided that he could take a couple minutes to check before going to bed. He could wake up his avatar for a short time.

He sat down at his desk, opened his computer, and opened up Digimon Net again. A moment later, after entering his username and password, his adventure was back up on the screen. Like always, he couldn't resist a smile whenever it came up. He had always wanted to program a video game…

But his joy was to be short-lived.

Just a few seconds after he had re-accessed the program, something happened that he hadn't seen before. Another window popped up in the center of his screen. He frowned. It looked like a terminal window…there was code running along it, but it was going too fast for him to read any of it. _Damn_, he thought. _Is this the game acting up?_

But then, the code stopped running, and a single line of text was visible on the screen: "Conditions Met. Begin Scanning Process."

Tom barely had time to wonder what that meant before a bright red light shone from his laptop camera. "Ah!" he said, turning away and putting up a hand. What the hell was this? Was there something in the program that was making his computer act up? This _really_ wasn't going to be pleasant to work out. And things had been going so well, too. "Why does this have to happen…?" he groaned.

But then, the light faded. He looked back at his computer, only to see the window in the center of his screen running a whole new mess of code. He peered at it, trying to make any of it out, but it was impossible. Then, it stopped again, and a new line of text came up: "Scanning Process Complete. Begin Upload Process."

Upload? This was even worse. What was it uploading onto his computer? Had someone hacked the program and inserted a virus?

Suddenly, he felt a strange sensation throughout his entire body. He frowned. _What the…?_

Then, a thought struck him. "Wait…" he said, turning back to the computer, and feeling stranger by the second. "No, no way. That's impossible. That's completely imposs—"

But he was cut off as a bright white light encompassed his computer screen, getting brighter and brighter until it filled the entire room. When it faded, the chair that Tom had occupied a moment ago was empty.

Thomas Grayson was gone.

**Obligatory Disclaimer: I do not claim ownership of the Digimon franchise or any of its components, including existing characters*.**

***Of which there will be several; this story will mainly focus on original characters, but there will be a number of existing characters to help/hinder them along the way.**


	2. 1: Tyler

Chapter 1: Tyler

Tyler Grayson stretched, his arms reaching up. Ah, baseball. The great American pastime. And the best way to spend a fall afternoon.

"Tyler!"

Tyler turned his head. "Yeah, Kev?"

Kevin Anderson made a face, as he always did whenever Tyler called him by his nickname. "Get your head in the game. This next guy's a hard hitter."

"Chill out, man, I got it," Tyler said, turning to face home plate. The next batter was indeed known for his strength, and given that Tyler was situated in left field, there _was_ a chance of the ball coming his way. But Tyler wasn't too worried. These power hitters often hit pop flies, and if that happened, it would be a simple matter to catch it and end the game. If he didn't hit a pop fly, but it still came toward Tyler…well, he'd try to get it, and if he didn't, no big deal. It was just a game.

The batter stepped up to the plate, a tall, muscular senior in high school. Though he was in Tyler's grade, he looked older, not just because of his height, but because of a certain maturity that he seemed to possess that other seniors didn't. He hefted the bat and swung it a couple of times before getting into his stance and fixing his gaze on the pitcher.

The pitcher, a skinny junior named Peter Amian, managed to keep his own gaze resolute as he prepared to throw. He winded up, and threw, a fastball shooting across home plate. The batter swung, but was a second too late, and the ball passed into the catcher's mitt. "Strike!" the umpire called.

Tyler grinned. He may not even have to worry about getting the ball after all…

The catcher threw the ball back to Peter, who caught it and prepared to throw again. The batter didn't look fazed; on the contrary, he seemed even more determined. As a result, Peter's next throw was a bit off, and sailed just to the left of the plate. Fortunately, though, the batter didn't have an exceptionally keen eye, and still swung, getting his second strike.

The tension in the air was palpable. If Peter could strike this guy out, that'd be the game, and Tyler's team would win. However, they were only ahead by two points, and there were two people on base. If the batter could bring any of them home, he could close the gap, or even tie the game. And, if he managed to get a home run, he'd achieve victory for his team.

Dead silence filled the field as Peter wound up and threw. This time, his pitch was dead on—and so was the batter's swing. A resounding _crack_ sounded out as the ball rocketed down the field, right in Tyler's direction. Unfortunately for him, it was too far to the right and too low for him to catch it, and he could only watch as it hit the grass and began rolling.

Yelling filled the field, people from the other team yelling at their players to round the bases, and people from his team yelling at him to get the ball. "I'm going, I'm going," he muttered, and began jogging after the baseball.

But getting it was not going to be easy. It was still rolling, and even though Tyler forced himself to speed up, he couldn't seem to close the gap between him and the ball. _How do they expect me to get this? _he thought.

Finally, the ball stopped rolling. Tyler slowed his pace as he drew near, and bent down to pick it up. "Throw it!" he heard Kevin yelling nearby.

He turned around, reached back, and let the ball fly, sending it to Kevin. Kevin caught it, whirled around, and threw it to home, but he was too late. The batter's foot touched home plate just as the ball left Kevin's hand.

A great cheer went up from the players on the other team, as they came out onto the field en masse to celebrate their victory. By contrast, the players on Tyler's team were groaning, sagging in defeat, or glaring at him. "What?" he said to several of the third category. "I tried; I couldn't get it."

"You call that trying?" said Kevin, coming up to him. "My eighty-year-old grandpa could have gotten to that ball faster."

"Look, chill out," said Tyler. "It's just a game."

Kevin glared at him. "For God's sake, Tyler, we really try. We put ourselves into this game. You're dragging us down."

"Yeah?" said Tyler, rising to his full height in front of the slightly shorter boy. "You're not perfect, either. You tripped and let that fly ball fall to the ground in the fifth inning."

"Yeah, but that was an accident. I didn't let the ball go because I didn't care."

Tyler scowled. "I care."

"You do a good job pretending otherwise."

Tyler opened his mouth to respond, but their argument was cut off before he could do so, as the team was called over to shake hands with their opponents. After that, their coach, a man named Kenneth MacPherson, grouped them together for an after-game pep talk. "Look, I know we didn't win out there today," he said, "but we gave them a good fight. We made them work for that victory. And I know it hurts to lose like that after we came close to winning, but that's something that every team experiences. Just shake it off, and we'll come back strong next time. All right?"

The others nodded, and after a group cheer, they dispersed. Except for one of them. "Tyler, hold on a moment," said the coach.

Tyler stopped and grimaced, as the others walked by him. In a couple moments, he was left alone with Coach MacPherson. Holding back a sigh, he turned around. "Yes, Coach?"

MacPherson frowned at him. "Tyler, I'm going to be honest with you here. I'm a little concerned with your lack of effort recently."

"C'mon, Coach," said Tyler. "I went for that ball just now. I just couldn't get to it in time."

"You could have if you had really put some effort into it," said the coach. "But it's not just that one instance. In general, you don't seem too committed. You lack energy, vigor. And I'm curious as to why that is. Do you not like playing baseball?"

"No, I like it," said Tyler. "I just…I feel like it's just a game, that's all. I mean, if we lose, does it really matter?"

MacPherson nodded. "I see…Well, Tyler, that's not all there is to it. You're not just playing for yourself. When you sign up to play with this team, you're playing as a part of a group, working together. You're right in that baseball games should not be life-or-death situations, but you can't take that viewpoint too far. A lot of people manage to keep that in mind while they do take these games seriously. They're not just playing to fool around. They're playing to give it their all. If they lose, it's disappointing, because, well, no one likes to lose, but there's always that consolation if knowing that you did well and had fun.

"But if part of the team doesn't give it his all—if he doesn't have the same level of vigor—then the others can't feel like _they_ gave it their all. They get regrets, and feel like they should have won." He gestured to the departing players. "If you don't play as vigorously as they do, you're bringing them down."

His comments stung Tyler a little. So what, he was the weakest link here?

MacPherson patted his shoulder. "Just give some thought to what I've said. Take the weekend; relax, but mull it all over."

"Yeah, all right."

"I'll see you on Monday, then. And I hope you'll be ready to display some more of that vigor I mentioned."

"Uh-huh. See you, Coach."

* * *

Tyler's mood didn't improve during the drive home. Why couldn't everyone just play baseball nice and casually? Why did it have to be so damn competitive? Sure, athletes were some of the most highly paid professionals in the world, but how many people on the team were actually considering being professional athletes? It took years of training and hard work, and then you just got pushed around by coaches that were a lot more intense than MacPherson.

Tyler couldn't really blame the man—he had probably spoken to him as considerately as possible—but he couldn't quite forgive him, either. He had essentially labeled Tyler as the team's weakest link, a title that no one wanted to get stuck with, and was pretty insulting. And he was so concerned with that _vigor_. First off, it was a pretentious word; just use "energy" or "drive." And second, why did he need more vigor? Maybe everyone else just needed less.

His sour mood lasted until he reached his apartment. It wasn't a big one, but it was what his parents had left him and his brother Tom, after they had died almost three years ago. The two brothers had managed since then: they had had to turn to each other for comfort after the accident, so they had gotten closer; and Tom's work had been sufficient to pay the bills. He was a computer programmer, and what many people (Tyler included) would call a nerd. His most recent project, to the best of Tyler's knowledge, involved the creation of some big program that related to a kid's TV show, or something—which, surprisingly, seemed to be turning out to be really successful. Good for him and all, but it wasn't the type of thing Tyler had much interest in.

Tom was clearly busy, though; he hadn't come out much from his room in the past several days, and Tyler hadn't seen him at all the previous day. He had thought this unusual, but supposed that it must have been a particularly busy time. Yet he was hoping that Tom might be there, if only to provide a comforting presence.

So Tyler walked up the flights of stairs, unlocked the apartment door, and opened it, calling, "Hey, Tom!"

But there was no response. Tyler made a face and entered, dropping his stuff on the living room couch. He had no brother to say hi to, or, for that matter, cook for him, and wasn't looking forward to eating his own cooking two nights in a row.

He sighed. Well, maybe there was still some more boxed macaroni and cheese in the cupboard…

* * *

But after he had made and eaten dinner, Tyler was beginning to really wonder where Tom was. He wouldn't want to interrupt his work, but the door to his room was ajar, and the light was off. He could have stepped out…but Tyler hadn't seen him for almost two days now, and he highly doubted Tom would have left for so long without first letting him know somehow. "Yo, Tom, you there?" asked Tyler, approaching his brother's door. After he knocked and didn't get a response, he pushed the door open. "Tom?"

The room was dark, so Tyler flicked on the light switch. When he noticed his brother's computer was open on his desk, he frowned. There was no way Tom had gone somewhere for an extended period of time without his computer. Not Tom. So he was probably nearby. But why was his computer open?

Tyler walked over to the desk, curious as to whether he could find out anything about his brother's whereabouts. He hit the spacebar a couple times, and, after about a second, the screen lit up. There were two windows open that he could see. The first one had a game up, something called "Digimon Net." That sounded familiar; Tyler was pretty sure that was the project that Tom had been working on. But there was nothing going on; it just looked like the start page.

The second window was a simple black one that just had one line of text on it: "Upload Process Complete."

Tyler frowned. That was weird. What had Tom uploaded to his computer? And why would uploading a file make him leave somewhere? Unless the two things weren't connected.

Tyler reached into his pocket. Maybe he could call his brother instead; it didn't seem like there was anything on his computer that would be helpful in locating him. Taking out his own cell phone, he opened it (the brothers' budget didn't allow for anything better than old flip phones), and hit the button to speed dial his brother. He put it up to his ear and waited for it to ring. It did so—but he also heard the noise that he had been really hoping not to hear.

It was the sound of a phone ringing. On his brother's desk.

After a moment, Tyler hung up. So his brother was gone, hadn't brought his computer or his cell phone, and hadn't let Tyler know where he was going. Now Tyler was getting worried. Could something have happened to him? Much as the brothers sometimes took digs at each other, Tyler would never forget how they had stuck together after their parents died, and didn't know how he would get by without Tom. "Tom? Are you in here?" he called one more time, though he had to admit, he was entertaining a sense of false hope.

And there was no response. "Okay," said Tyler, "okay, what do I do here? Is this worth calling the cops?" He looked around. "Tom, I don't know where you are!"

And then, he heard something. Something coming from Tom's computer. Still feeling tightly wound, he went back to the desk and sat down. What was that? It…it almost sounded like a voice. But where exactly was it coming from?

The two windows were still open on the computer. Trying to get a better look at the game's window, Tom closed the other one.

Suddenly, the sound was magnified, many times. It was like that window had been physically blocking it, and it was now free to get through. And it was a voice. "…that you?"

Tyler couldn't help the feeling of relief that swept through his body. It was his brother's voice. "Tom?"

"Tyler?" A sigh of relief was audible through the speakers. "I finally got through…thank God…"

"Got through? Where are you?"

There was a pause. "It's hard to explain."

Tyler frowned. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"It means I can't tell you now. But I do need your help."

"With what?"

"Well, I'm assuming you're at my computer."

"Yeah."

"Was there a black window up when you opened it? It might have had some text on it."

"Yeah, there was."

"Is it still there?"

"No, I closed it."

"Ah, you did?" Tom's tone sounded annoyed.

"Hey, sorry. But I could barely hear you before I did."

"Huh?"

"I could hardly hear anything at first. Then, I closed that window, and I could hear you perfectly."

"Huh." He paused for a minute. "That's interesting. And…that might make a lot of sense, actually…"

He was silent for another few seconds. "You still there?" Tyler asked.

"Oh, yeah, sorry." Tom exhaled. "I'm in a bit of a jam here, and, no offense, but I'm not sure if you'll be able to help me out."

"Well, sorry for not being a total nerd."

"Yeah, yeah. Could you contact one of my friends, actually? He might be able to help me."

"Sure. What's his name?"

"Bart Nell. His number's in my phone."

"What should I tell him?"

"Tell him to get over here as soon as he can. I'm not sure how much longer I can maintain this connection."

"I'm still not sure what's going on with you, you know. Why would you not be able to keep a connection for much longer?"

"Look, it's complicated, I told you. Just get Bart."

"Fine. But you owe me an explanation. You had me worried."

Tom paused for a moment. "Sorry. I promise I'll tell you once I get this sorted out. Sound good?"

"All right." Tyler reached for the phone on his brother's desk.

Suddenly, a window popped up on the computer screen. It looked a lot like the one Tyler had closed: simple and black, with text running across it. Except this one had text running across it so quickly that Tyler had no idea what it was saying. "Uh, Tom?" he said.

"Yeah?"

"Something's up."

"What is it?"

"There's another window that just came up on the screen. It's got text running across it, but it's going too fast for me to read it."

Then, the text stopped, leaving just one line: "Conditions Met. Begin Scanning Process."

A second later, a bright red light shone from the camera on the top of Tom's computer. "Ah!" said Tyler, shielding his eyes. "Tom, what's your computer doing? Now it's shining this bright light at me!"

"What?" Tom's voice, though barely above a whisper, sounded horrified enough to scare Tyler a bit. "No…no, oh hell no…"

"Tom, what's going on?"

"Get out of here. Now."

"What?"

"Go! Run! I'll explain later!"

The rising panic in his brother's voice was enough to make Tyler rise—or at least, try to. "My legs are asleep!" he said. "Or something…I can't move them!"

The dead silence that followed from the computer did nothing to improve the fear that he had now developed. "Tom—"

"Hang on, I need to think!" His brother's tone of voice had become more harsh and businesslike—but Tyler could sense the strong fear beneath it. "Okay, is the window with Digimon Net still open?"

Tyler looked at the screen, blocking the red light with his hand. "Yeah."

"Is it on the start page?"

"Yeah."

"Okay, then we can try this." Tom muttered something to himself, but it was too quiet for Tyler to hear. Meanwhile, though, the red light had faded, and the black window had a bunch more incomprehensible text running across it. "All right, click on that window," said Tom.

Tyler did so, right after seeing the black window display the words, "Scanning Process Complete. Begin Upload Process." "Okay."

"Now hit the F7 button about five times rapidly. And Tyler? Stay strong. I know you can make it through this."

Tyler frowned. "Make it through what? And why am I feeling kinda funny?"

"Just push the button! Quick!"

"Okay!" Tyler's finger pressed up and down on the F7 button as quickly as he could, five times. The screen blinked, but nothing seemed to happen. "Uh, Tom? What did that do?"

But there was no response. "Tom?"

Something had cut his brother off. And so Tyler could only sit in bewilderment as a bright white light shone from the computer screen. He shut his eyes, and then…


	3. 2: Digimon

Chapter 2: Digimon

The air felt different. More humid, he'd have to say. And with a slight breeze. Not what you'd expect from being inside…

Tyler opened his eyes. At first, he had to blink a few times, because the light was so bright. Then, he had to blink a few more times, because he couldn't believe what he was seeing.

He was sitting on the ground, in a grassy area populated with a few trees. Sunlight shone from a clear blue sky, through a large gap in the treetops. There was a log nearby, covered in moss.

Slowly, Tyler got to his feet. "What? What is this?"

This definitely was not his brother's room. But that was all he could say about it. He didn't know of any nearby outside areas that looked like this, and the air was too warm for this time of year. It was almost as if he had been transported to the Southern Hemisphere or something, or even to a different dimension.

But that was impossible. Something else must have happened to him. He thought back to what he could remember… "Well," he muttered, "I was talking with Tom on his computer, and then something happened that made him really worried. Then he told me to hit some buttons on the keyboard…and then that bright light shone from the screen…" He touched the side of his head. "Did I fall down?"Maybe that was it. Maybe he had fallen off the chair and hit his head, and now he was dreaming. Though this all felt pretty real…but dreams did sometimes do that.

He suddenly became aware of something on his wrist. Looking down, he saw that he was now wearing some sort of watch. It wasn't quite like any watch he had seen before: it was pretty big, all metal, and entirely red. Next to its screen—which was blank, for some reason—was a small red button, which was right next to a tiny screen on the side of the watch.

That settled it. There was no way this was real. This watch didn't look like anything Tyler had ever heard of, and he had no recollection of putting it on.

He stood up. Well, if he was dreaming, maybe he could have some fun. First off, what was this place? Some kind of forest, or at least a lightly wooded area.

He looked around. Actually, it was more like a clearing, with multiple trees surrounding him. So, a clearing in a forest? Hey, who knew, maybe there'd be something exciting in there. It was a dream, after all.

So he started towards the trees. _At least it's comfortable out,_ he thought. His subconscious hadn't doomed him to suffer.

Then, after a couple minutes of walking, he heard a _boom_ somewhere off to his left. He jumped a little and turned his head. That sounded like something exciting. Probably better than the nothing that was going on where he was. So, with his mind going through possibilities of what it could be, he began walking in that direction. But just a few seconds later, he heard rustling in front of him, and something jumped out of the trees.

He blinked, the surprise almost making him forget he was dreaming for a minute. The creature looked like a bird—walking on two legs with no outstretched wings, sort of like an emu—but was different in several ways. For one, it had a white mask on its head, covering its face. For another, it had a series of green feathers sticking out from behind the mask.

And, finally, it talked. "Get out of here!" it said, in a voice that could best be described as a squawk.

"Wh-what?" said Tyler.

"It's Megadramon! He's on a rampage!" said the creature.

_Mega what?_ Tyler thought. But before he could ask, the creature had disappeared into the trees behind him.

For a moment, Tyler stood still, not sure what to do. It sounded like whatever was in that direction was dangerous, and, even in a dream, Tyler wasn't going to be completely careless. Still, that was where something was happening; was there maybe a way he could get close without being in too much danger?

Then, he heard more rustling ahead, which quickly turned into the sound of several creatures coming. Before Tyler could run, though, he saw them, and quickly deduced that they were also running from whatever was further ahead. Still, he didn't move for another couple of seconds, taken aback by the sheer myriad of creatures in front of him. There was a giant bee with magenta wings, a walking humanoid plant with a pink flower on its head, a red bird with a white head and a headband…

_How the hell did I come up with all of this?_ Tyler thought.

Then, the creatures had reached his position, and he found himself being pushed back by the throng. "Whoa—hey, hang on…" he said.

An impact on his stomach made him stumble back, and, since he had nothing to grab on to, he fell, landing on his back on the grass. Something else also fell down, on him. "Uh!" he grunted.

A second later, the crowd of creatures had passed by, and he was able to sit up and see what had made him fall over, and what had fallen on him. Getting to its feet, in front of him, was…well, it was a bipedal fox in a fedora and a trench coat.

The fox eyed him. "Hey, why don't ya watch where you're goin'?"

And it had an accent. Stereotypical mobster—Italian or New York or Chicago or something, Tyler wasn't sure. "What the hell have I been smoking?" he muttered to himself.

The fox came up to him. "Hey, I haven't seen you around. You new?"

"Uh, I guess…" said Tyler, hoping that wasn't a cue for the fox to mug him or something.

"Well, ya better get outta here," said the fox. "I dunno what's up with him, but Megadramon's comin' this way, and he's ticked off about somethin'."

"Who's coming this way?"

As if on cue, a roar sounded out, not too far in front of Tyler. "That's who," said the fox. "We gotta get movin'." It looked around. "Actually, we might be able to escape him." It turned back to Tyler. "C'mon, get up."

Tyler got to his feet. "Now follow me," said the fox. "Unless you wanna get burned to ash."

"Uh, no," said Tyler.

"Then let's go." The fox took off, in a direction perpendicular to the way the other creatures had been running. Tyler followed, still not sure what to make of things. "Megadramon seems to be following a straight path," said the fox, "so if you wanna escape from him, ya gotta get off the path." It turned back to Tyler. "You got it?"

_Well, at least it doesn't say "Capiche,"_ thought Tyler, and he nodded.

The two continued for a while before the fox stopped. "Let's hope he doesn't come this way," it said.

Tyler looked back in the direction they had come. "I don't hear anything," he said.

A second later, another explosion sounded, this one much closer. Tyler jumped…and then he got a look at the creature everyone had been running from.

It looked like some sort of dragon, with no legs and metal hands. Red scales covered it from head to tail, and a pair of purple wings sprouted from its back. Covering the top half of its head was a metal plate that left holes for its yellow eyes.

The fox pushed Tyler into a crouch. "Get down an' don't move," it said in a low voice.

Tyler could only watch as the giant creature flew past, its head turning back and forth. Almost like it was looking for something. Just the sight of it was enough to scare Tyler, and he found himself breathing harder and harder. _Calm down,_ he told himself. _It's just a dream, it's just a dream._

But this was feeling more and more real by the minute. Yet there was no way it was real. No conceivable situation in which this could be anything more than a vivid hallucination.

Both Tyler and the fox watched closely as the red dragon continued on its way. Then, when it was out of sight, they both dropped their shoulders in relief. "Close one," said the fox.

"Was…was it looking for something?" asked Tyler.

"_He_ was," said the fox. "Don't call a Digimon an 'it,' it's kinda insultin'."

Tyler frowned. "A what?"

"Digimon," said the fox. "Y'know, Digital Monster." It waved a hand. "All of us. 'Cept you, maybe. You don't look like a Digimon."

Tyler shook his head. "I'm not." The hell was this fox talking about? "I'm, uh, a person. A human."

The fox raised its eyebrows. "A human?" It looked thoughtful. "Hm…y'know, I've been lookin' for someone to help out, someone who needs my help. I need a purpose, an' helpin' someone like you could be that purpose."

Tyler blinked. "What, so you want to help me?"

"Maybe."

Things were getting stranger and stranger. "Anyway, you said that…uh, whoever that was was looking for something?"

"His name's Megadramon," said the fox. "And I'd only guess he was lookin' for somethin'. Or someone. I wouldn't know what."

Tyler looked back to where Megadramon had disappeared. "I kinda hope he doesn't find it."

The fox nodded. "Yeah. Megadramon's never been the nicest of guys, but something's happened to him recently that's made him particularly malicious."

"Really? What?"

The fox shrugged. "One week he was nasty, next he was really nasty. Dunno why."

Well, this Megadramon's change of personality was the least of Tyler's worries. "So, can we get out of here before it—before he comes back?"

The fox frowned. "Maybe. But I don't wanna leave the other Digimon to his mercy."

Tyler mirrored his companion's frown. "But…what can you do against him?"

"Me? I can't do anythin'. Not if I wanted to fight him."

"Then what's the point of staying around?"

The fox eyed him. "'Cause I wanna see what I can do. Anythin' to help the others out."

His gaze (Tyler had determined the fox was male) made Tyler feel a little guilty. Like he shouldn't be questioning helping the other creatures in the area. "Uh, okay," he said. "So, what were you think—"

A loud roar cut him off, and he instinctively ducked and turned around. A few seconds later, he saw Megadramon rising above the trees, flying off in the opposite direction. "Is…is he leaving?" he asked in an undertone.

"Let's hope so," said the fox.

But, before making his leave entirely, Megadramon turned, eyeing the trees below. From what Tyler could make out, a smile appeared on his face, and he aimed his metal claws at a spot a little distance away. "Dark Side Attack!" he yelled, at a volume that made Tyler flinch even from a distance.

Balls of energy materialized in his hands, and were released into the forest below. More explosions followed as Megadramon continued his attack. "Get outta here…" said the fox, with gritted teeth.

Suddenly, a series of screams arose from the area. Upon hearing these, Megadramon let out a laugh—a harsh, grating, cruel laugh—and, after firing a few more energy balls, flew away.

The fox turned to the sound of the screams. "We gotta go help!" he said, and ran off in the direction.

"What? Help how?" asked Tyler. But the fox was already gone, leaving Tyler no choice but to follow him.

Moments later, the pair arrived at the scene, and Tyler had to take a moment to take it in. A collection of creatures—Digimon, he was pretty sure the word was—was running around. There were trees with faces, large green creatures with sunflowers for heads, walking mushrooms with pink gloves and boots…

It was a lot to take in. But that wasn't Tyler's primary concern. His primary concern was the fire. Megadramon's attack had created a forest fire, which was threatening every Digimon present—and himself, if he wasn't careful. He saw some of the creatures catch fire, at which several more leapt forward to beat it out.

It was a team effort. Everyone was trying to survive, but they were also trying to make sure that everyone else survived, too. And they were doing a good job of it.

Tyler turned to the fox, who was standing next to him. "Um, looks like they got things under contr—"

"Help! Please!"

The fox snapped his head around at the plea. Tyler turned, too, to see another creature standing in front of a burning collection of sticks. It had an almost reptilian body, but its head had a red petal draped over it, and several leaves stuck out from its neck. "Tanemon's trapped!" said the creature.

The fox ran over, and Tyler followed at a distance. "Floramon!" said the fox. "Who's trapped?"

The Digimon, Floramon, pointed with its hands, which were really more like flowers. "Tanemon! She's in there, and I don't know what I can do to help her!" It looked down at its flower-hands. "I can't move the branch without getting burned…"

Tyler looked at the burning sticks, which, upon closer inspection, turned out to be a single flaming branch that had fallen down. And, just behind it, he saw movement, and could hear a small whimper.

"She can't last much longer in there!" said Floramon. It looked around. "And everyone else can't help her without getting hurt!"

The fox nodded, then turned his attention to the burning branch. "Stand back."

Floramon took a step back, as did Tyler (though he was somewhat far back already). The fox surveyed the scene, his face a mask of grim determination. Then, he held up his hand (paw?) and brought it back. "Enforcer's Hand!" he yelled.

Tyler watched as the fox's hand seemed to glow with an unseen power. Then, he leapt forward, hand outstretched, and smashed through the burning branch, rolling into a ball as he did so.

Tyler blinked. Not only had he smashed through the branch, but rolling on the ground had put out the small flames that had caught on his coat as he did so. It was impressive.

The fox quickly got up, and sighted his target. Another small creature was curled up a couple feet away. It had a white and green spherical body with a leaf sticking up on top—and it didn't look like it was doing well. "Tanemon!" said Floramon.

Moving quickly, the fox went over to Tanemon and picked her up. "Let's get you outta here," he said.

A cracking sound above caught Tyler's attention. He directed his gaze up, to see a burning branch slowly moving, about to fall. And it was right above the fox and Tanemon. "Look out!" Tyler called.

The fox looked up, just as the branch broke free entirely and fell. Again moving quickly, he jumped backwards, and the branch crashed to the ground in front of him. Tyler found himself letting out a breath upon seeing that he had not been hurt.

Of course, now there was another problem: the fox and Tanemon were trapped behind the branch. It wasn't too big, but it would be difficult for the fox to jump over, especially while carrying Tanemon.

The fox looked around. "There's no way out!"

"Tanemon!" yelled Floramon again.

Tyler looked upon the scene, and, for the first time, found himself wishing he could help. Beforehand, it looked as though the fox and the other Digimon had things covered, and there was no need to get involved. Now, though, things were different. The fire was closing in on the fox, and as the surrounding Digimon seemed to be all plant-based, they couldn't safely help. And even though Tyler didn't really know any of them…he knew that he'd feel bad if he let them suffer.

Then, an idea struck him. "Hey, fox!" he called stepping forward.

The fox looked at him. "You talkin' to me?"

"Yes, you, who else? Can you throw Tanemon to me, then jump over the branch?"

The fox blinked. "I guess I could. Can you catch her?"

Tyler nodded. "Yeah, I can."

"Well…" The fox looked down at the Digimon he was holding, who wasn't looking any better than before. "All right!"

Tyler readied himself as the fox drew back his arms. His heart was pounding. Sure, this sort of thing was the kind of thing he had often done in baseball, but this time, things were different. This wasn't a baseball he was trying to catch that would hit the ground harmlessly if he missed. This was a living creature that was already injured, and could get hurt even more if he didn't catch it—her.

Then, the fox brought his arms forward and released Tanemon, who flew through the air in an arc. Tyler kept his eyes on her, shifting his feet and moving a little to intercept her. He could do this…

Then, she came down—right into Tyler's arms.

Tyler's shoulders sagged, and a sigh of relief escaped his mouth. He looked down at the creature in his arms. She looked weak, and even burned in a couple of places, but she was still smiling at him. And he found he couldn't help but smile back.

Floramon ran up. "Tanemon!" she said, holding out her arms.

Tyler handed her over. "We should get out of here," he said. "The fire and smoke will keep spreading."

Floramon nodded. Then, she looked back. "But what about—"

Her question was answered as the fox leapt over the burning branch, rolling into a somersault as he did so. "You okay?" said Tyler, bending down.

The fox stood up. "Yeah. Good work back there."

Tyler nodded. "Thanks, uh, you, too. Now let's get out of here."

* * *

Minutes later, they all stood at a safe distance, watching as the fire burned itself out. "It's lucky it's not spreading farther," said Tyler.

"The forest is too healthy," said Floramon, standing next to him. "That part only caught fire because of a bit of dry wood and Megadramon's attack."

Tyler's face grew dark. "What a jerk. Why would he attack the forest like that, anyway?"

Floramon shook her head. "I don't know. All I know is that I'm glad he's gone." She turned to Tyler and the fox. "And I'm very grateful to both of you for rescuing Tanemon. I don't know what I would have done…"

From her arms, Tanemon gave a happy squeal.

The fox smiled. "We're just glad we could help."

"Well, I won't forget it. One day, I'll be sure to repay you."

The other Digimon began to move out, no doubt looking for another part of the forest where they could settle down. With a final smile and wave, Floramon and Tanemon joined them."Well…" said Tyler as they disappeared from sight, "that was something."

"It was," said the fox. He looked up at Tyler. "Y'know, we make a pretty good team."

Tyler looked back at him. "Yeah, I guess we do."

"And I've been thinkin' about what I said earlier, about findin' someone to help out, to be a partner for." He gave Tyler a grin. "I think you're a pretty good guy to do that with."

Tyler returned the grin. "Yeah, I think you are, too."

"Well, so how's about we try somethin' here?" The fox stuck out his hand. "Let's see what we can do together."

Tyler hesitated for a second before taking the outstretched hand. "Okay."

Suddenly, the device on his wrist flashed, emitting a high-pitched sound. It all lasted about a second, then stopped. "Huh?" said Tyler, looking at it. "What's…"

The screen was no longer blank. Now, it displayed an image of the fox, along with a word next to it. "Volpesmon?" said Tyler, reading it.

"Oh, yeah, that's my name," said the fox. "I ain't gonna have you callin' me "fox" all the time."

"Oh, right."

The fox—Volpesmon—looked at him expectedly. "Well? I've told you my name, now you tell me yours."

"Oh. It's Tyler."

"Well, good to meet ya, Tyler." He turned. "Now, c'mon, let's see what the two of us can do."

"Sounds good."

The pair of them started forward. _Wild,_ thought Tyler. _This dream's really something._

He blinked. He had almost forgotten this was a dream. It sure felt real…but it was still impossible. _Well…hopefully I don't wake up soon. This is pretty interesting_…


	4. 3: Too Real

Chapter 3: Too Real

Megadramon's attack hadn't been widespread enough to cause much more damage, so Tyler and Volpesmon didn't have much more to check before ensuring that everyone in the immediate vicinity was okay. Still, Volpesmon wanted to look around some more, since Megadramon had been prowling the area for a little while, and may have launched more attacks besides the one they had witnessed. Tyler decided to go along with it, feeling a desire for more excitement and deciding that it was unlikely that his dream would leave him with much inactivity after all of that.

But action didn't come as quickly as he had thought, and after the two had been walking in silence for a few minutes, he began to feel bored. To pass the time, he looked at the device on his wrist, which displayed what looked like a status screen for Volpesmon: name, information, attacks, and even an HP bar.

He looked at the small box in the corner of the screen labeled "Information." At the moment, it only displayed two things: level and attribute. Apparently, Volpesmon was a Rookie-level Digimon of Vaccine attribute. Tyler had no idea what either of those things meant, so he pressed a finger against the box, seeing if he could find out more. It turned out he could; the box expanded to cover the entire screen, and more words appeared. Nothing expanding on the level or type classifications, but there was a short description, which Tyler read.

_Volpesmon has a warrior mentality, with strong opinions about what is right and wrong and a single-minded determination to help those in need. He is something of a loner by nature, but will treat others well, and is more than willing to team up if need be. If so, he will hold such an alliance in high esteem, and expect his teammates to, as well. He is not quick to hold a grudge, but an angry Volpesmon is not someone you want on the other side._

Well, that last bit was a little intimidating. Where had his subconscious come up with that? But at least Volpesmon seemed to be a guy you could count on. And if not, they probably wouldn't be together for too long. How long did dreams last, anyway?

Still, he was curious, and so after looking around the "Information" box for another few seconds, looked up at Volpesmon. "What does Rookie and Vaccine mean?"

Volpesmon blinked; it had been the first time either had spoken in a few minutes, and he had looked like he was concentrating on something. "Huh?"

Tyler held up his wrist. "According to this, you're a Rookie-level, Vaccine-attribute Digimon."

"Oh, those. Attribute's not all that important; it just means I've got a slight advantage over certain other Digimon."

"What about level?"

"I was gettin' to that, yeah. Digimon all have levels—the more powerful the Digimon, the higher the level."

"So…where does Rookie fall?"

Volpesmon's eyes seemed to narrow for a second before he responded. "It's third. The levels go Fresh, In-Training, Rookie, Champion, Ultimate, Mega."

"Wait, so Rookie is above those first two, but below the others?"

"Yeah."

Well, it didn't sound as though that was too bad. Even if Volpesmon was weaker than Digimon of three other levels, he was stronger than Digimon of the first two. That had to count for something, right? "So," continued Tyler, his curiosity still strong in spite of himself, "if you're at Rookie, what about others? Like Megadramon?"

This time, he definitely didn't miss Volpesmon's eyes darkening. "Er…bad topic?"

"Huh?" Volpesmon blinked. "Nah. Just…nothin'. Anyway, Megadramon's an Ultimate Digimon."

Ultimate…that was two steps above Rookie. Good thing they hadn't tried to fight him, then. "Well, I'm sure we can handle what—er, whoever we come across."

Volpesmon looked over at him. "Thanks."

"Yeah, sure."

They walked on for another couple of minutes before Volpesmon perked his head up. "You smell that?"

Tyler sniffed. "Smell what?"

"Burnin'. C'mon, this way."

He quickened his pace, and Tyler followed. Soon, he could make out the unmistakable scent of burning, too…but he also picked up something else. "Um…" he said, pausing.

Volpesmon turned around. "What's up?"

"Do you hear that?"

Volpesmon concentrated for a second, then nodded. "Yeah. Almost sounds like…someone cryin'."

The two looked at each other for a moment, uncertainty in both faces. Rescuing Digimon was something they could do, but comforting them? It was a little outside of Tyler's skill set, and based on Volpesmon's expression, the fox Digimon wasn't an expert in it, either.

Finally, Volpesmon drew himself up. "We'd better check it out."

Tyler had to agree, and so the two made their way over to the source of the noise, which, as it turned out, was in the same direction as the burning smell. Emerging a few seconds later from the trees, Tyler couldn't help but let out a gasp. This area had been ravaged much worse than the last one they had seen, with all of the trees burned away in what must have been a fifty-yard radius. Smoke still rose from the ground, and from some of the charred remains of what were once tall trees.

Next to him, Volpesmon's hands clenched into fists. "Megadramon…" he snarled. "One day…"

Another sob cut into their thoughts, and the two of them looked over to their left. A few feet away, another Digimon was seated on a tree stump, crying into its hands, despite the shortness of its arms. It was a small Digimon, with a pink top half and green lower half, and a yellow sprout growing out of the top of its head. Next to it stood another creature, this one representing a peacock in a jacket and crown with a large bush growing out of its backside (Tyler had, at this point, decided to just go with anything strange like that that he saw). Unlike its companion, it was not crying, but its sad countenance was visible even from a distance. After another glance at each other, Tyler and Volpesmon approached them. "Uh…everythin' okay?" said the latter.

The crying Digimon shot them a glare from behind its stubby hands. Despite its size, Tyler couldn't help but cringe a little. Clearly, everything was not okay.

The peacock spoke up. "If you will excuse us, we have just experienced a very harsh loss. Our home has been destroyed, and many of our friends with it. I'm afraid we will need some time to recover."

Tyler was not unwilling to grant his request; he felt rather out of place there. But his partner had other ideas, and spoke up again. "It'll be fine. You can rebuild your home; I'm sure there will be Digimon willin' to help."

"And our friends?" the peacock asked, his tone cool.

"They'll…they'll be reconfigured, right?" said Volpesmon. "They're not gone forever. Just—"

"Not gone forever?" said the crying Digimon in a high voice. She turned to Volpesmon. "Everyone knows Digimon are reconfigured in Primary Village. But can you tell me how to get there? And can you tell me how to find them specifically? Or…or how to make them regain their memories of us? Can you tell me that?"

She burst into tears again, and the peacock stepped in front of her. "I appreciate your concern," he said, in a tone that suggested quite the opposite, "but you cannot help us. Now, if you please, leave."

Stung by his rebuke, Tyler nodded, and jerked his head. "Let's go."

"But…"

"C'mon, Volpesmon."

The fox Digimon's reluctant expression did not fade, but he followed Tyler as he walked away from the scene of destruction and sorrow. "We could've helped them," he said, once they were a fair distance away.

"They didn't want our help," said Tyler. "You heard them."

"We might've been able to find a way."

"They wouldn't have let us stick around long enough. Besides, it seemed like we were doing more harm than good by being there."

Volpesmon frowned and dropped his gaze. "I was tryin' to help them."

"Uh…" Great, now he was feeling guilty about making Volpesmon feel bad, too. "Yeah, I know. I just…it just didn't seem the best way to do so."

Volpesmon grunted. "Maybe."

They continued to walk in silence, and Tyler looked up. _Okay, maybe this dream's run its course,_ he thought. _I mean, if I'm running into mourning creatures that reject any offers for help…yeah, this is the point where I wake up, and feel better about this all having been a dream. Then I can find out what happened to Tom. I hope I haven't been out for too long._

But the dream didn't seem to want to end. Tyler waited for a couple more minutes, but he was still in the forest, walking next to a two-legged fox who spoke like Al Capone.

He sighed. Well, if he was still in this…there was something else that Volpesmon had said that made him curious. "What did you mean, the Digimon will be reconfigured?"

Volpesmon glanced at him, then sighed himself. "Kinda complicated…see, Digimon are made up of data particles. When we're destroyed, those particles are broken up, separated. Then, they're reconfigured into an egg, a Digi-Egg, and we hatch from them and start life again."

Tyler blinked. "Wait, so…you can't really die?"

"Well…there are conditions. For one, we're a lot weaker when we're reborn. And, more importantly, we lose most of our memories after we're reconfigured. So it's like…when we're reborn, it's a different version of us."

"Oh. That kinda sucks." He thought back to their encounter. "That's what that pink Digimon meant, then. When she said something about regaining their memories…"

Volpesmon nodded sadly. "Yeah…I was tryin' to cheer her up back there, but it's actually really likely she'll still never see 'em again. Or if she will, they won't know her."

Tyler looked back. "Then it is like they really died…"

Volpesmon shrugged. "Well…they'll still get another life. They won't remember their previous one, but they'll make a new one. But, yeah, to their friends, it's like they're gone for good."

With that cheerful thought on their minds, they walked on, even though Tyler wasn't sure where they were going. Just far enough away from the disaster site, he guessed. Trying to get his mind off of the events of the past few minutes, he looked back at the device on his wrist, and noticed something that he hadn't before: a red meter, below the light green one that represented health. Like the HP bar, it was labeled with just two letters, "DV."

Tyler frowned. Despite his limited experiences with them, he knew enough about video games to know that "HP" stood for "Hit Points," but he had never heard of the abbreviation "DV" before. He raked his eyes over the screen, looking for any indication as to what it might stand for, but there was no "Help" option that he could find, or anything like that. "Hm," he said, trying to think of a time when he might have seen these initials, or how they might have worked their way into his dream.

Well, if Volpesmon was another character in the dream, and had known about levels and attributes, he was as good a person—or Digimon—to ask as anyone. But just as he opened his mouth, Volpesmon's head perked up again, and he stared straight ahead. "Someone's coming."

Tyler followed his gaze, and soon heard the sounds of leaves rustling and twigs snapping. "Uh…good or bad?"

Volpesmon frowned. "I can't say for sure until we see…" He sniffed the air. "But I do have an idea…"

Tyler considered asking him what the idea was, but given the proximity of whoever it was, it probably wouldn't do much harm to wait.

And they didn't have to wait long. Seconds later, another Digimon emerged from behind a nearby tree. It wasn't like the ones Tyler had seen before: instead of being plant-, insect- or bird-based, this one looked like a small dinosaur, like a baby T-Rex. It had yellow-orange skin, a wide head, and hands ending in sharp white claws. And it didn't look too happy.

Yet Volpesmon seemed to brighten up upon seeing it. "Thought it might be you, Agumon," he said. "How're you holdin' up since—"

"You're trespassing," said Agumon, cutting him off. The Digimon's voice was high, but Tyler could tell it was male.

Volpesmon was clearly not prepared for this reaction. "Trespassin'?"

Agumon gave a curt nod. "This land belongs to…to the great Tyrannomon." He seemed to ease up for a second, his attitude becoming less assertive and more sympathetic. "Sorry, but you better leave."

"Leave?" Volpesmon shook his head. "What are you talkin' about? Agumon, we've met before; you know me." He raised an eyebrow. "Right?"

Agumon lowered his gaze. "Things changed. You gotta get out of here."

Volpesmon frowned. "And what if I don't want to?"

Agumon raised his head back up. "I'll make you if I have to."

Volpesmon took a step forward. "Is that a threat?"

"Don't make it one."

"And what's that mean? _You're_ the one who made it."

"Just get out. You can't be here."

Volpesmon growled. "We'll go wherever we please."

Agumon's eyes hardened, and he sunk into a crouch. "Then you leave me with no choice."

Volpesmon mirrored his stance, pulling his hand back to attack.

"Uh, Volpesmon?" said Tyler. "Is…is this necessary?"

"Apparently it is," said his partner through gritted teeth.

"You're the one making this difficult," said his opponent.

"Me? I'm not the one orderin' people around! If you've just become a servant of this Tyrannomon, then you ain't worthy to be givin' commands, lowlife!"

Tyler thought he might have been being a little harsh…but still, he was not prepared for Agumon's reaction. With a feral snarl, the dinosaur leapt forward, his claws swinging in an arc directly at Volpesmon's face. Even with his honed instincts, Volpesmon only barely managed to dodge, and could not regain his balance quickly enough to evade the second strike. The sharp claws raked across his chest, and he winced and leapt back. "What the hell _happened_ to you?" he demanded.

Agumon's only response was to rear his head back, flames licking the side of his mouth. "Pepper Breath!" he shouted, and a fireball burst from his mouth, heading directly for Volpesmon. But the fox Digimon was too quick, and rolled out of the way.

Tyler stood on the side, not sure of what he should do. He might be able to help in the fight; Agumon was about the same size as Volpesmon, so Tyler had a good couple of feet on him. But, then again, he had sharp claws and fire breath. Tyler had no counter for that. Still, if he came at him from the back or something, maybe he'd be able to get the jump on him.

And besides, if Agumon did hurt him, maybe that would provide the final catalyst needed for him to wake up. Tyler had been in dreams before when he was in danger, and he remembered that he always woke up right as he was being attacked.

So he stepped forward, holding his arms out to try to grab the dinosaur Digimon. But the latter noticed, and stepped back. "What are you doing?" he said, clearly not expecting Tyler to get involved.

Volpesmon had similar sentiments. "Hang on, I can handle this…"

"I can help," said Tyler.

Agumon's eyes narrowed. "Get out, I said!"

Tyler continued to come at him, thinking he could try to throw a punch, and curled his hand into a fist. But Agumon noticed. And, upon seeing that Tyler was seriously involving himself…well, he'd make Tyler a real combatant, all right. Jumping back a couple of steps, he reared his head again. "Pepper Breath!"

Another fireball burst from his mouth, but this one was headed for Tyler. He barely had time to register how his dream was about to come to an end before he was hit.

Pain erupted along his chest as he felt the fire burn his skin, and he was knocked back, landing on his back on the ground. Acting on instinct, he rolled over and smothered the flames, soothing some of the pain.

Then, it hit him. That had really hurt. And he hadn't woken up yet. You didn't hurt this much in a dream, at least not without waking up…

His eyes widened as the truth fell upon him. The hard, ridiculous, impossible truth. This was real. This was no dream. All of this was actually, really happening to him.

His brain seemed to shut down, trying to process the shock. There was no way, _no way_… He had to think of a way that this could make sense, that he could put this all together…

But nothing came to him. He could only lie still as the noises around him seemed to fade away, leaving him with a hollow sensation in his chest.

* * *

Attacking Volpesmon when they had previously been on pretty good terms was one thing. But attacking his partner, a human, who didn't have the same sort of resistance that a Digimon did, was entirely different. As soon as Agumon's attack made contact, Volpesmon was leaping at him, bringing his hand forward. "Enforcer's Hand!"

Agumon turned to him just in time to get his face smashed in. He was sent flying back, and Volpesmon went after him, lashing out with his fists at every opportunity. "You…do not…mess with my partner!" he yelled, in between blows.

Stumbling around, Agumon attempted another Pepper Breath, but Volpesmon cut him off with an uppercut to the jaw. The dinosaur Digimon was forced to take a couple steps back, pinning himself against a tree. Closing the distance between them, Volpesmon put a hand on his opponent's throat. "All right, now," he growled. "I'm gonna give you one chance to explain yourself. Why are you workin' for Tyrannomon? Why are you attackin' those who just walk into this part of the forest?"

Agumon stared back defiantly…but then, his expression dropped, and his look lost its fire. "Why do you think?"

Volpesmon raised an eyebrow. "What's that supposed to mean? I have no idea why—"

"You remember when we last saw each other?"

Volpesmon blinked. "Yeah."

"And what I was doing?"

The fox Digimon thought back. "You were…leadin' a group of other Digimon to some place to settle down…"

The memory clicked, and Volpesmon wondered how he could have forgotten about it. Agumon had really been devoted to the other Digimon, a group of In-Training Digimon who looked up to him as their leader. Still, what did that have to do with why he was attacking him?

Agumon stared intently at him. "And where do you think they are now?"

"Wherever you ended up settlin' down, I gue—"

It finally hit him, and his eyes widened. "Wait…you mean Tyrannomon…" He stared at Agumon. "He has 'em?"

The dinosaur Digimon's silence was all the confirmation Volpesmon needed. He pulled his hand back, and Agumon fell to the ground, breathing heavily. "I…couldn't save them…from him," he said, his voice shaking a little.

"Why didn't you tell me? Why'd you just attack me like that?"

Agumon glared up at him. "Because I can't do anything without them being…being torched." His eyes fell. "The least I could do was keep everyone else away."

"Geez." Volpesmon looked down. "I…I had no idea…"

Agumon rose to his feet. "Don't blame yourself. But you really should leave."

Volpesmon blinked. "Leave? Just let you and the others stay in his power?"

Agumon frowned. "What other choice is there?"

"We help you," said Volpesmon, as if Agumon was missing the obvious. "If there are Digimon in trouble, we're not gonna leave 'em."

The dinosaur Digimon shook his head. "What can you do? He's stronger than you are."

"We'll do whatever we can."

Agumon stared at the fox Digimon for a few seconds before a small smile broke out on his face. "I do remember you being stubborn about helping others."

"You complainin'?"

"I guess not." His frown returned. "But it's dangerous to go up against someone like Tyrannomon." He nodded at Tyler, who was still lying on the ground. "You should at least let him sit out."

As Volpesmon beheld his partner, he felt a surge of guilt hit him. Tyler had been wounded in the fight, and he had just forgotten about him. "Tyler!" he said, dashing over to where he lay. "You all right?"

Tyler looked like he was recovering from some great shock, and Volpesmon's worries intensified. Had he been hurt that badly? "C'mon, let's take a look at your chest," he said, putting his hands on Tyler's shoulders and bringing him to his knees. He let out a sigh of relief as he saw that, aside from a couple of minor burns, his partner was relatively unscathed. "All right, you'll be fine," he said. "Just take a minute to recover. Then we gotta go help Agumon."

Tyler seemed to snap out of his trance. "Help him?"

Volpesmon nodded. "Turns out he and his friends are being held captive by a real baddie, Tyrannomon. I think we can help 'em out."

"W-what? How?"

Mildly taken aback by the fear his partner was showing, Volpesmon tried to look reassuring. "We'll figure somethin' out."

He started to walk away, but Tyler called out. "Wait."

Volpesmon turned. "Yeah?"

Tyler stared at him for a moment, his expression a mixture of shock and fear. "This…this is real…" he said. "All real…"

Volpesmon frowned. What was he talking about? "Of course it's real. What did ya think?"

"Just…a dream…"

Volpesmon's expression hardened. "This ain't a dream, Tyler. Sorry, but we're all real." He pointed at the woods behind them, where Agumon had come from. "All the more reason to help out whoever we can. Right?"

Tyler didn't respond, so Volpesmon left him to confer with Agumon. "All right, what are we gonna do?"

Agumon nodded at Tyler. "Is he in?"

"Hey, he's my partner. I'm not gonna exclude him."

Agumon shrugged. "If you're sure…"

"Sure I'm sure. Now let's come up with a plan."

* * *

**A/N: Next chapter, some real action. Shouldn't be too long before I have it up.**


	5. 4: Power

Chapter 4: Power

Volpesmon snuck a side glance at his partner as Agumon led them through the forest. Tyler still seemed to be getting over the shock of realizing that everything going on around him wasn't a dream. _C'mon,_ Volpesmon thought, _you've gotta stay in the game! We're counting on you!_ He couldn't explain it, but somehow he could tell that Tyler, though his fighting capabilities were very limited, would be essential in the upcoming battle. But if he wasn't able to pull himself together by then…

Trying to not let those thoughts take over, Volpesmon gently tugged on the vines that Agumon had used to bind his hands, and was satisfied that they gave way fairly easily. For everything to work out as they'd planned, he'd need to be able to break out of them and immediately spring into action when the time came. In a low voice, he asked, "How much farther?"

"Not much," said Agumon, also speaking quietly. "You'll be able to hear him soon."

Sure enough, less than a minute later, Volpesmon picked out the sounds of something big a ways ahead of them. A few seconds following that, a roar cut through the trees. Next to him, Tyler paled. "Pull yourself together," Volpesmon muttered. "We'll get through this."

Tyler nodded, but it was a small nod, and didn't betray a whole lot of confidence.

Now Volpesmon was getting worried. If Tyler failed to come through for them, how much of a chance would they stand against someone like Tyrannomon?

But there was no time to get hung up over that. Agumon and the others needed their help. So Volpesmon forced his worries down as the sounds ahead of them got louder and louder…until finally, they emerged into a clearing.

Quickly, Volpesmon looked around and analyzed the situation. Tyrannomon did seem to be the only threat there…but he was formidable enough. He was about fifteen feet tall, with bright red skin and razor-sharp claws and teeth. Just a few feet away from him, looking scared out of their wits, were several younger Digimon—Volpesmon recognized a handful of Koromon, a couple of Tokomon, and one or two Tsunomon. His fists clenched at the sight of these poor creatures in danger, but he forced himself to remain calm. They'd get their chance soon enough…

Tyrannomon's large blue eyes fixated on the newcomers. "What is this?" he asked, his voice deep and gravelly.

Agumon gave a small bow. "Great Tyrannomon," (Volpesmon could see him holding back a shudder at those words) "I found these two trespassers on ou—on your land. They refused to get out, and even went so far as to insult you. I was able to overpower them, but given the magnitude of their offenses, I thought it best to bring them back to you for judgment."

They had prepared something of an eloquent speech that Volpesmon had thought would appeal particularly to someone like Tyrannomon. And Agumon delivered it well. Volpesmon didn't see a shred of suspicion in Tyrannomon's face as he swept an eye over the two captives, briefly lingering on the burn mark on Tyler's shirt. He stepped forward, and Agumon stepped off to the side…just far enough to be out of Tyrannomon's line of sight. "So," said Tyrannomon, "you think you can just walk in and do whatever you want, do you?"

Volpesmon glared up at him (or at least tried to, before the light of the setting sun shone in his eyes and made him move his gaze to the dinosaur Digimon's chest). "We're not afraid of tyrants like you."

"Then you will learn to understand what power is!" Tyrannomon lifted his head up, and flames began to collect in his mouth. "Blaze Bla—"

"Hang on!"

Tyrannomon's eyes narrowed as he stopped his attack. Volpesmon could feel his heart racing as he searched for something to say. He hadn't expected Tyrannomon to attack them so soon. "You're…you're just gonna destroy us right now? Not gonna let us speak?"

"You have already spoken, and decided your fate!"

Tyler spoke, his voice barely kept from quivering. "But…don't we get a chance to…to justify our actions? To speak in our own defense?"

Tyrannomon frowned, and peered at the human. "What are you? I haven't seen one like you before…" He blinked. "No…you are a human!" He growled and stomped, his large foot nearly sending them falling down. "You think a _human_ has any business criticizing a Digimon! We are more powerful than you could possibly be!" His eyes were getting frenzied now. "What can you do that could threaten us? What can you do at all? You are weak, insignificant beings…which I will prove right now!" He lifted his head again.

"That ain't true!" yelled Volpesmon. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Agumon herding the others away, trying to remain quiet. They just needed a little more time… "He's got powers you couldn't even imagine!"

"What?" Tyrannomon lowered his head again. "Do not think you can lie to me…"

"I'm not lyin'. You've just never seen a human in action before." Technically, he hadn't really, either, but he had to buy Agumon time to get his friends out of there. And, even though he wasn't being completely truthful…he couldn't say that he was really lying, either. Ever since meeting Tyler, he had sensed something in the human that was beyond his understanding. Something that Tyler had that no one else did. A power that, indeed, Tyrannomon could not imagine.

He could see the dinosaur Digimon's curiosity battling with his instinct to destroy. But then, with a shake of the head, Tyrannomon said, "That is a bluff. Humans have no such power!"

"You don't know that."

"Oh? Then what is it?"

Volpesmon grinned. "Why should I tell you?"

"Because if you don't…" Tyrannomon turned his eye to Tyler. "I'll incinerate him."

Volpesmon started. "B-but…you won't be able to see his power!"

"Then I'll incinerate _you_ if _he_ doesn't tell me!" He fixed an eye on the human. "Well?"

Tyler was still at a loss for words, so Volpesmon had to step in again. "That won't work on us!"

"Won't it?" Tyrannomon grinned. "I've found that it's worked so far."

And then, before Volpesmon could realize what he was doing, let alone stop him, he turned to the spot where the captive Digimon had been just moments before…and saw Agumon leading them into the forest.

For a second, nobody moved. Agumon stared in horror back at Tyrannomon, while Tyrannomon could only process the shock of seeing what he saw. Then, he roared, a bloodcurdling bellow that made the trees vibrate. "Traitor!" he yelled, and prepared to attack.

It was now or never. Yanking on his bonds, Volpesmon freed himself, then immediately sank into a crouch. "Enforcer's Hand!"

He felt the familiar sensation of power around his right hand, then leapt forward, punching Tyrannomon right in the gut. The large dinosaur let out a grunt, but didn't seem injured as he turned his attention back to Volpesmon. "Pest! Prepare to die!"

"Here we go!" said Volpesmon, glancing at Tyler before rushing off to the side, attempting to draw Tyrannomon's fire from his partner. It worked; Tyrannomon's head followed the fox Digimon as he lifted it for the third time. This time, though, his attack was not interrupted. "Blaze Blast!" he yelled, and a giant fireball rocketed out of his mouth. In the nick of time, Volpesmon managed to leap out of the way, but the impact behind him still sent him falling to the ground. Pulling himself up, he turned to face his adversary, who was opening his mouth to fire another blast. Moving quickly, Volpesmon ran at him, pulling his hand back. "Enforcer's Hand!"

This time, he jumped up as he attacked, going for the throat…but Tyrannomon was too quick, and swung his giant head to intercept his attacker. Unable to react in time, Volpesmon was knocked to the side, and sent sprawling in the grass a few feet away from Tyler. Fortunately, the blow was not severe, and he was able to pick himself up again. "C'mon," he said, looking at his partner. "We've gotta beat him!"

"How?" said Tyler, his tone verging on panic.

"I dunno! Think of somethin'!"

"How the hell am I supposed to think of something when—"

Another fireball cut him off, and Volpesmon was forced to leap out of the way once more. After a quick aerial somersault, he landed on his feet, and turned around to continue the conversation.

But Tyler wasn't there. Volpesmon was able to catch a glimpse of him, running in the opposite direction, before he disappeared into the trees on the other side of the clearing.

It felt like there was a sinkhole in his chest. His own partner…had just deserted him. Didn't he realize that they were both needed to stand up to Tyrannomon? What was supposed to be gained from running away, other than serving his own personal need for self-preservation? Was he really so selfish as to leave Volpesmon to face a more powerful Digimon on his own?

His thoughts took up so much of his concentration that he missed the large claw swinging towards him. He did feel it hit him, though. And he felt the impact when his body connected with a tree not too far away.

Groaning, he got to his feet, trying to push all thoughts of Tyler out of his mind. If he was so self-centered as to desert his own partner, then he wasn't worth thinking about. Volpesmon would just have to do this on his own. He was weaker than Tyrannomon, and the fight so far had taken a toll on him…but he wasn't finished yet. He had to at least give Agumon and the other Digimon more time to escape. And if that meant fighting to the death…well, at least Digimon were reconfigured after they were destroyed. Sure, he'd be somewhere else, weaker than he was now, with most of his memories gone…but it wouldn't be a _complete_ loss. He'd live on, in a way.

With that in mind, he sunk into a crouch, facing the large Digimon that was headed in his direction.

* * *

Tyler's mind had stopped properly functioning a little while ago. He was pretty sure something in his brain had short-circuited as soon as Agumon had hit him, and it hadn't repaired itself yet. He sure wasn't yet used to the idea of this whole experience being _real_. So when Tyrannomon had attacked them, he had done the only thing he could think of: run. He hadn't been sure why Volpesmon was so keen to get him in on the fight, too. Tyrannomon was right; he had no power. Nothing like a Digimon, anyway. He couldn't shoot fireballs or let loose a super-strong punch. He was in pretty good shape, but there was only so much that he could do on his own. No, it made absolutely no sense for him to be there. Volpesmon was the fighter, not him.

So then why was the first thing he felt after running away a crushing sensation of guilt?

It followed him as he weaved through the trees, the sounds of the battle behind him getting fainter, and it stayed with him as he slowed to a walk, convinced that he was far enough away by then. But really, it made no sense. He'd only be getting in the way, after all. There was nothing compelling him to stay behind and get burnt to a crisp.

He shuddered as he thought of how close he'd been to death back there. If all of this was real, then he was in real danger of dying. And not just from Tyrannomon. He remembered soon after his arrival to this strange place, when Megadramon had attacked a section of the forest, and he knew that, had he been the target of Megadramon's attack, the giant flying Digimon would have had no trouble at all finishing him off.

His heartbeat quickened as he looked around. He had to get out of there! Who knew what else was lurking nearby, ready to fry him, crush him, or cut him up? This place was not for him.

But…how could he get out? The best course of action for him to take would be to get help from someone else. But who did he have? He had Volpesmon—or rather, he had had him. Volpesmon would probably hate him for running away, now.

What about Agumon? He had seemed friendly enough…but his first responsibility was to his other friends. Volpesmon had seemed more like a loner, so he had been an ideal person to pair up with. Just the two of them, a pair of lost souls…okay, that was a little dramatic, but the idea was there. He had been willing to travel with Tyler, to help him out with whatever he needed…and he hadn't thought the whole experience was a dream. The offer had been genuine, a real attempt to give assistance to someone else.

And how had Tyler repaid him? By ditching him right when he needed help the most.

He felt his throat close up, and he put his back up against a tree and sunk to the ground. What was he supposed to do now?

"Tyler?"

He looked up to see Agumon looking over at him, along with the other Digimon that he had rescued. "What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be helping Volpesmon back there?"

Tyler put his head down, not trusting himself to answer. But he heard Agumon go on. "You're his partner. He's counting on you to help him out. You can't just leave him!"

Tyler gritted his teeth, feeling like he was back in front of Coach MacPherson, being lectured about not helping his teammates enough. Couldn't he and Agumon understand that people had their limits? And Tyler had reached his.

"I know it's scary," continued Agumon, "but you've got to do something!"

Tyler's head snapped up. "What the hell am I supposed to do?" he demanded. "Against that thing? I'm useless! He was right; there's nothing I can do."

"Volpesmon didn't seem to think so," said Agumon. "I heard what he was saying. He said you had a power unlike anything he'd ever seen."

Tyler snorted. "He was just stalling for time. I don't blame him for it…but it's not true. He didn't believe it, so why should I?"

"Didn't he? He sounded pretty convinced to me."

Tyler was about to respond that he was just a good actor when something gave him pause for thought. _Could_ Volpesmon have been serious? The only significant thing that he had seen Tyler do was catch one Digimon who was trapped in a fire, and anyone could have done that. And yet…there had been a look of conviction, almost of faith, when Volpesmon had spoken of him back there. Did he really believe it? Was it true? Was there some sort of power that Tyler had that he wasn't aware of, but that Volpesmon believed in?

Tyler sighed and shook his head. "Look…even if that is true…I don't know what my power would be. I could go back there, but I'd just get in the way. It's better to let him deal with it himself."

"Let him deal with it? Volpesmon may be tough, but he's only a Rookie-level Digimon. Tyrannomon's a Champion. He's outmatched!"

"Well, what can I do about that?"

Agumon hesitated. "I don't know. But…we don't always have the answers. Sometimes we have to figure things out as we go along, rather than knowing about them in advance." He looked over at the other Digimon. "I've been watching these guys for a long time, but I don't know everything about it. I mess up all the time." He smiled. "But they've still stuck with me. They still trust me to do the right thing."

"That's because you're the best, Agumon!" said one of them.

Agumon scratched his head sheepishly. "Aw, thanks."

"He's right!" piped up another one. "You can do it, human!"

Tyler blinked, and looked over at the speaker. Within seconds, the others began to chime in, adding their own words of encouragement. He was taken aback. How could these Digimon, who didn't know him, put their faith in him like this? All they had seen him do was act scared and run away.

He felt something rising within him. If Digimon that barely even knew him could believe in him…then maybe he could, too. Maybe he hadn't truly reached his limit yet…

Suddenly, the device on his wrist began to beep. He looked at it…and felt his stomach drop. Volpesmon's stats were displayed on the screen, and the bar representing his health was critically low. "Volpesmon!" he said. He rose to his feet, and, before he had time to think about it, he was running back to the scene of the battle.

_Hold on, hold on,_ said his thoughts, trying to catch up to his movements. _There's nothing you can do back there. It would be suicide to go back! Literally; you'll die!_

He slowed, considering his actions against his logic. True, he didn't know what he was going to do. The others believed in him…but what if they were wrong?

He growled. "No. Screw it," he said aloud, to give his words more conviction. "Volpesmon…he's my friend. I can keep wondering about what I should do. But just now, I saw that he was in trouble, and I knew I had to at least try to help." He quickened his pace until he was running again. "I'm _not_ going to stand by and do nothing while my friend—my partner—is suffering."

If nothing else, he owed him that much.

* * *

"Blaze Blast!"

Another fireball exploded inches away from Volpesmon, sending him to the ground. As he struggled to get up, he heard Tyrannomon laughing above him, and tried to block it out. But there was no question that he was losing badly. His entire body was covered in bruises, and he had sustained a couple of burns from being too close to some of the fireballs. He grimaced as he tried to put weight on his right ankle, which he was pretty sure had been sprained sometime in the past few minutes.

Barely managing to get to his feet, he looked up at his foe. Tyrannomon was looking smug, but he was also looking like he wanted to get things over with; Volpesmon doubted he had forgotten entirely about the other matter at hand, i.e. Agumon and the others escaping. "Time's up," said the large Digimon. "So much for the human's power."

Volpesmon gritted his teeth. Did he _really_ need to remind him of that now? At this point, it was basically rubbing salt in the wound.

Well, at least he would forget all about it soon enough. He could barely dodge another attack, and even if he did manage to get out of the way of this next fireball, the one after that would finish him for sure.

Eyes glinting, Tyrannomon lifted his head up…but for the third time that day, he was interrupted.

"Hey, jackass!"

Both Tyrannomon and Volpesmon turned at the sound of the new voice, and Volpesmon's eyes widened. Standing at the edge of the trees, determinedly facing down Tyrannomon, was Tyler. _He…he came back?_ Volpesmon thought. He shook his head, hoping he wasn't hallucinating from the pain. But Tyrannomon could see him, too, so…

A surge of hope rose up in him. _He came back._

Tyrannomon snorted. "You? And what do you think you can accomplish? You were better off running away, human!"

"Running away?" said Tyler, taking a step forward. "Abandoning the one who offered to help me? Who stood by me when I was lost?" He shook his head. "It was the dumbest thing I've ever done. I'm here to make up for it."

"You're a little late, then!" said Tyrannomon. "Take a look at your friend. He's a step away from death, and right now, there's nothing you can do for him!"

"Let's see about that!" Tyler turned and began running over to Volpesmon. "Hey, Volpesmon, let's see about getting you out of here…"

But with two large steps, Tyrannomon positioned himself between the two. "Where are you going, little human?"

Fear registered in Tyler's expression as he looked up at the giant blocking his path, but he still tried to move around him. "To help my friend."

"Ha!" said Tyrannomon, moving to block him again. "How? You can't hope to fight me. You have no special powers that can aid either one of you. What can you possibly accomplish?"

"I don't know!" said Tyler, shouting up at the Digimon. "I have no idea what the hell I'm doing. I really don't! But I'm going to do _something_, goddammit! I'm not going to just let my partner die!"

As Volpesmon watched, he couldn't help but feel a sense of pride. Somehow, Tyler had managed to overcome his fears of the danger of this world, and now he was standing up to a Digimon that could take him out with one strike. This was a lot different from the timid human that had stood next to him just a few minutes ago. Maybe…maybe he had just needed some time. Maybe Volpesmon had rushed things, forced him to get into the whole Tyrannomon situation too early. Maybe he had no one to blame for these injuries but himself.

Yes, Tyler was strong. His strength might not always be willing to surface immediately, but it was there. And, oddly enough, even though Volpesmon didn't know how he could help the situation, either, seeing him back on his side gave him a feeling of hope, of confidence. Now that they were together again, they could pull through this.

But Tyrannomon didn't seem to think so. "You want to do something? Fine. _You_ can be the first to die!"

Volpesmon's eyes widened in horror. "Tyler, get out of here!" he yelled as he tried to focus his energy for another attack. But he couldn't. Even though he felt better after the return of his partner, he was still drained. He could barely stand, let alone leap forward with another strike.

He watched Tyrannomon prepare to attack, frantically thinking of a way to save his partner, but deathly afraid that he wouldn't be able to come up with anything, and be forced to watch as Tyler was obliterated.

* * *

Tyler was more terrified than he had ever been in his life. When he was running back, when he was facing down Tyrannomon, and now when he was seconds away from being incinerated, a powerful hand of fear had gripped him and refused to let go. Still, he wasn't _entirely_ doomed. From what he had seen, Tyrannomon's aim wasn't perfect, and he suspected he could probably do what he had seen Volpesmon do and leap out of the way before the fireball hit him.

At least, he hoped so. He _really_ hoped so.

Yet despite the danger, he could honestly say that he didn't regret coming back at all. If he had stayed away and allowed Volpesmon to die, he knew that it would have haunted him for the rest of his life. If they were going to go down…well, at least they'd go down as a team.

And then, just before Tyrannomon launched his attack, the device on Tyler's wrist chirped, and the screen flashed. Glancing down at it, he barely had time to see that the screen was different than normal before he heard Tyrannomon yell, "Blaze Blast!"

Tyler's instincts kicked in, and he dashed away, feeling the impact and the heat of the fireball behind him. Knowing that he had only seconds before Tyrannomon attacked again, he looked back down at the device. It still showed Volpesmon's status screen, but two things were different. One, the red meter that he had seen before, labeled "DV," was now full. And two, a red tint covered the entire screen, overlaid by three words: at the top, in big letters, was the word "Digivolve?", and below that, two buttons that said "Yes" and "No."

Tyler had no idea what "Digivolve" meant. But it sounded good. And something told him that it was just what they needed. So, with barely a second thought, he pushed the button labeled "Yes."

As soon as he did, the screen glowed with a bright white light for a second before a beam of it shot out, arcing high in the air before coming down to land right on Volpesmon. Both Tyler and Tyrannomon turned, and watched as Volpesmon seemed to regain all of the energy he had lost during the battle. He stood up tall and grinned right at Tyler before the white light finished enveloping his body, and he was lost from sight. A second later, Tyler heard his voice call out.

"Volpesmon Digivolve to…Alepomon!"

The light faded, and Tyler couldn't help but stare. Volpesmon had…changed. He was now almost six feet tall (and his trench coat and fedora had changed size accordingly), with a slightly more pronounced snout. And in each of his hands, he gripped a gray handgun, each of which resembled an older version of a pistol that had a hammer and a revolving chamber, but with a bigger barrel. To go along with them, a brown gun belt was strapped around his waist.

The device on Tyler's wrist chirped again, and he looked down. The status screen was still there, but it had changed. Instead of Volpesmon, it now displayed this new Digimon, Alepomon, along with some new information, one piece of which in particular caught Tyler's eye. _Champion level._ What had Agumon said? That Tyrannomon was a Champion, and so he outranked Volpesmon?

Tyler couldn't hold back a grin. Well, it looked like that had changed.

He also noticed that the health bar, which had previously been almost empty, was now full. Whatever this "Digivolve" was, it had indeed been just what they needed. Things were a lot more even now.

The new Volpesmon—Alepomon—threw another grin at Tyler. "Thanks, partner." His voice was different, too, a little deeper and maybe with a bit less of an accent than Volpesmon had had.

Tyrannomon roared. "You think this changes anything?"

Alepomon turned his attention to his foe. "As a matter of fact…" He pointed his guns straight at Tyrannomon. "I do."

With that, he yelled, "Vulpine Shot!"

A burst of fire in the shape of a fox head shot out from each of the guns, hitting Tyrannomon square in the chest, and sending him stumbling back. Roaring in anger, Tyrannomon opened his mouth again. "Blaze Blast!"

Another fireball rocketed towards Alepomon, but he dodged it so quickly that Tyler would have missed it if he had blinked. One second he was standing there, next he was up in the air. "You missed," he said.

Tyrannomon growled, but before he could react, Alepomon was diving at him. Deftly adjusting the gun in his right hand, he slammed the butt of it into the dinosaur's snout. As his foe's eyes began to water, Alepomon flipped back and landed on the ground. "Had enough?"

Tyrannomon's response was to roar and charge…but again, Alepomon was too quick. Before the larger Digimon could register where his enemy had gone, Alepomon had dashed around him, and was pointing his guns at the back of his legs. "Muscle Blaster!"

The guns flashed, and Tyler saw two bursts of light erupt on Tyrannomon's legs. With a howl of pain, the dinosaur toppled to the ground. As he groaned and stirred weakly, Alepomon walked over. "Enough of this," he said. "Leave. You got no right to subjugate innocent Digimon. Take this as a lesson, and walk away, or else—"

Tyrannomon's eyes shot open, and he fired off the quickest fireball that Tyler had seen yet. An explosion erupted where Alepomon stood, and Tyler saw him fly back. But then, he righted himself in midair, and landed on his feet. "Big mistake," he said.

As Tyrannomon stood up again, Alepomon crouched and leapt into the air, high above his enemy. Tyrannomon followed him with his open mouth, trying to fire off another attack…but Alepomon had already pointed his gun downward. "Vulpine Shot!"

Another burst of fire rocketed down, intercepting the fireball that Tyrannomon was in the process of creating. The two bodies of flame collided, creating a huge explosion that ripped through Tyrannomon's head and body, dissolving him into thousands of tiny particles.

Tyler remained dumbstruck as Alepomon landed back on the ground. "Whoa," he managed to say. "That was…how'd you do that?"

Alepomon grinned and walked over to him. "All thanks to you," he said. "You proved Tyrannomon wrong. You do have a power unlike anythin' he could imagine." He indicated himself. "Your faith in me, and refusal to give up, gave me the strength I needed to take him down."

Tyler raised an eyebrow. "Sounds kind of cheesy."

Alepomon shrugged. "So what if it is? It worked, didn't it?"

"I guess it did." Though Tyler couldn't help but feel a little intimidated…Alepomon was almost taller than he was, and wasn't as familiar a face as Volpesmon. Plus, there were those guns to think about…

Alepomon paused, noticing Tyler's reaction. "Huh?" It took him a second to realize. "Oh, c'mon, Tyler. It's just me!" Tucking his guns into his belt, he crossed the distance between the two and put a hand on Tyler's shoulder. "Right?"

Tyler felt himself relax, and couldn't help but grin. He was right—he might look different, but it was the same guy. "Right."

Speaking of it being the same guy… "Hey, look…I'm really sorry. It was…well, stupid and cowardly for me to run away like that. I…I really messed up."

Alepomon smiled at him. "Hey, we all mess up from time to time." He hesitated. "Actually…I feel like I owe you an apology, too."

Tyler blinked. "For what?"

"I kinda dragged you into this. I mean, you were just gettin' over the shock of findin' out this was genuine, and that you were really in danger, and I just put you in more danger. It…wasn't exactly thoughtful of me."

"Well, you were thinking of Agumon and his friends."

"Yeah, but—even though Agumon's my friend—my responsibility to other Digimon comes second. It's my partner I gotta look out for first."

Tyler smiled, and actually felt a little choked up. "Thanks, man."

"Hey, it's what I'm here for." He held out a hand. "Ready to continue our partnership?"

Tyler grabbed the hand. "I think I am."

Alepomon smiled broadly…and began to glow, and shrink. A second later, Volpesmon was standing in his place, but still wearing the same smile. "Good to have you back, partner."

* * *

**A/N: I got these first parts of the story out fairly quickly, but I'm probably gonna have to slow down; I had a few chapters ready when I started so I could give this story a good start, but I've got a lot more writing to do…and other work to contend with it. But, hopefully I've captured your interest—if so, let me know what you like about it, and if not, feel free to let me know what could be better.**

**Until next time.**


	6. 5: Mara

Chapter 5: Mara

The sounds of battle drew Agumon and his friends back, and upon seeing Tyler and Volpesmon victorious, they didn't try to hold back their cheers. Tyler couldn't help but grin as he and his partner were treated like heroes for the second time that day—though this time, they had done much more than save a single Digimon from a fire. They had come together to take down a foe much stronger than either of them, and saved over half a dozen Digimon from his tyrannical rule.

Most of the smaller (and younger, Tyler assumed) Digimon wanted to know how they had done it, so Tyler and Volpesmon related what had happened, while the others watched with open mouths. "So…you Digivolved," said Agumon, looking at Volpesmon. "I bet that was something."

Volpesmon nodded. "Pretty incredible. That feeling of strength, of becomin' strong enough to do what you need to…it's much more than the change from In-Training to Rookie."

One of the smaller Digimon, who really wasn't much more than a pink blob with antennae, eyes, and a mouth, looked downcast. "And we haven't even gotten there yet…"

Agumon smiled. "Don't worry; I'm sure you will some day!"

As the pink blob brightened up, Tyler turned to Volpesmon. "I think I'm a little out of the loop, here; I didn't know Digimon could change their levels."

Volpesmon grinned. "Oh, yeah. It's the most effective way to get stronger. When we've grown enough, we Digivolve to our next form."

Ah, so that was what that word meant. "But…you don't stay that way?"

His partner frowned. "We usually do…but this was different somehow. Kinda like…like I only got a temporary rush of power. So I could only Digivolve for a short amount of time."

So Volpesmon could change levels, but not permanently—or maybe he could—and somehow, Tyler had done something to give him that rush? He was just wondering how many other rules were involved in this new place—wherever it was—when a feeling of fatigue came across him, and he yawned widely. Volpesmon noticed, and nodded. "Yeah, it's been a busy day, huh? And we only met just a couple hours ago."

Agumon also noticed Tyler's yawn, and stepped forward. "If you're tired, why don't you spend the night with us? We owe you for saving us from Tyrannomon."

"Don't feel like you have to," said Volpesmon. "I'm sure we can—"

"Let me rephrase that," said Agumon with mock severity. "You're sleeping here tonight."

Tyler smiled. He was feeling tired, and spending the night with friends was better than spending it alone (especially after having come to realize some of the dangers posed by Digimon like Megadramon and Tyrannomon). "That'd be great, thanks," he said.

Agumon jerked his head, motioning for them to follow. "Come this way; I'll show you where our sleeping grounds are. They're not much, but we've managed to make them work so far."

He led the others to another clearing, much smaller than the first, where the grass looked like it had been trampled down. "A little cozy," said Agumon, "but it helps keep things warm."

Tyler had to admit, they weren't the best accommodations he could have hoped for, but he decided that it was better than nothing, and sat down. The sun had properly set by then, and so he could only make out the colored shapes of the other Digimon getting into their places and curling up. He looked over at Volpesmon (whom he could still recognize), who was still standing up, and looking around. "Something the matter?"

"Just thinkin' it might be a good idea to put someone on guard duty," he said.

"Guard duty?" said Agumon, looking over. "It'll be fine, Volpesmon. We've spent several nights here with no trouble so far."

Volpesmon raised an eyebrow. "You call Tyrannomon no trouble? What if somethin' else comes while we're asleep?"

"Tyrannomon came during the day. Posting a guard at night wouldn't have helped us there." He hesitated. "But…I see your point." He sighed. "I hate having to do this in our own home, though…"

"Then don't worry about it," said Volpesmon. "I'll take the watch."

Tyler frowned. "You can't stay up all night."

"He's right," said Agumon. "Wake me up after a few hours and I'll do the rest."

"But then you'll be the one who loses too much rest," said Volpesmon.

Tyler glanced over at the young Digimon, who were looking up at them with rather big eyes—and felt a sense of responsibility come over him. "All right, how about this," he said. "Volpesmon can take watch for a few hours, then Agumon can take over for another few, and I'll finish them off."

The two Rookie Digimon turned to him. "You sure?" said Volpesmon.

Tyler nodded. "Yeah."

"Sounds like a plan, then," said Agumon. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have to make sure I'm well-rested for my watch." He walked over to his spot, in the center of the small clearing, and lay down, soon joined by the other Digimon.

Tyler followed suit, doing his best to make himself comfortable on the grass, and closed his eyes. He slowed his breathing, and felt his body relax. Hopefully he could get some rest, despite everything that was going on around him.

A while later, though, he was still awake. He had tried shifting positions a few times, but to no avail. Also, Agumon was snoring, which was kind of annoying.

It was frustrating. He could feel that his body was tired, but it wouldn't let him go to sleep. Questions were constantly plaguing his mind, despite his attempts to keep them at bay. What was this place? How had he gotten here…and, more importantly, how could he leave? Not that he was in a rush to, but there was no way he could stay for too long. He had a life back home which would definitely be thrown into disarray if he went missing for several days. His friends would wonder where he had gone, his teachers and coach would probably visit his house, and Tom—

Tyler's eyes shot open. "Tom!" he said, and sat up. He had completely forgotten about his brother over the shock of this new place. Tom had been asking for help when they had last spoken…and Tyler had been taken here before he was able to give it. Where was he? What had happened to him?

Volpesmon's head turned around as soon as Tyler made his exclamation, and he walked over to his partner. "Somethin' the matter?" he said, his voice a little lower than usual.

Tyler had forgotten about the sleeping Digimon. After a quick glance to make sure he hadn't woken any of them up, he turned back to Volpesmon. "I…I just remembered…"

"Remembered what?"

"My brother, Tom. I was talking with him before…" He waved a hand. "Before I came here. He's in some sort of trouble."

Volpesmon frowned. "What kind of trouble?"

"No idea. I have no idea where he is, or what's going on with him…"

"Wait, you were talkin' with him, but don't know where he is?"

Tyler paused. "Uh, it was through a computer."

"A what?"

"A, uh, really complex machine. But anyway, he wasn't physically there with me."

"What did he say?"

Tyler related the conversation that he and his brother had had, as best as he could remember. "I wasn't able to help him in time. He's still got whatever problem on his hands that he had before." He looked around. "And I have no idea what to do now…"

Volpesmon appeared to be in deep thought. "You said…he was involved in a project that had to do with Digimon?"

Tyler blinked. "Yeah, I did…so maybe he knows about this place!"

"Could be more than that."

"What do you mean?"

His partner spoke slowly. "You said that you were brought here from wherever you're from. Is it possible that the same thing happened to your brother?"

"You mean, that he's here, too?"

"Yeah."

Tyler straightened up. "Then he's in danger, too! We have to find him!"

Volpesmon nodded. "I agree…but right now, we need to rest."

"My brother's in trouble. Don't give me that bullsh—"

"You wanna help him, you need to have your energy. We probably ain't gonna find him right away. We're gonna need to get ourselves ready to search." He fixed Tyler with a stern glare. "So get some sleep. We'll look in the morning."

"How am I supposed to sleep while worrying about Tom?"

Volpesmon opened his mouth, then closed it. "I'm not sure. Just believe that he'll be all right."

"After what I've seen here, that's not gonna be easy…"

"Hey, it's not usually like this. Megadramon actin' like that was pretty out of the ordinary, and Tyrannomon…well, you'll find those kind o' guys anywhere, but they're not too common. There are plenty of Digimon who'd be more than willin' to help out your brother if he were in trouble."

This did lighten Tyler's spirits a little. "Really?"

"Absolutely. I've been around a lot, and I can tell ya that there are more Digimon like Agumon than Megadramon and Tyrannomon."

"Still, all it takes is one encounter with someone like them…"

"We gotta believe that that's not gonna happen." Determination blazed in the fox Digimon's eyes. "We're gonna save him, Tyler. I promise. And when I make a promise, I'm not gonna go back on it."

His determination was contagious, and Tyler found himself nodding. "Right."

"Now try to get some sleep."

"Gotcha." He lay down again, but only a few seconds passed before he broke the silence again. "Volpesmon?"

"Yeah?"

"Thanks…thanks a lot for helping me. I mean, I don't know what you're leaving behind to accompany me and everything…but it means a lot."

Volpesmon hesitated. "Sure, no problem."

The silence stretched out between them before Tyler broke it for a third time. "If I may ask, what did you do before we met?"

His partner sighed. "Not much, really. I've always been somethin' of a wanderer. Just goin' around and seein' what I can do." He paused. "You remember what I said to you soon after we met? That I'd been lookin' for a purpose?"

Tyler thought back. "Yeah."

"Well, that's pretty much been what I was doing. Just…just lookin'."

There was a note of sorrow in his words, and Tyler felt the urge to say something reassuring. "Well, I think you've ended up in a pretty good place."

Volpesmon smiled at him. "Thanks for the vote of confidence."

"Anytime, partner." He yawned. "I'll see you in the morning."

"All right. Sleep well."

* * *

Sleep did eventually come to Tyler that night, but his dreams were haunted by images of Megadramon and other faceless menaces, accompanied by Tom's occasional cries for help. When Agumon woke him up to take the watch, a large part of him was glad that he wouldn't have to return to that nightmare.

Nothing happened during Tyler's watch, so the Digimon with him woke to a calm scene. "Thanks for your help, guys," said Agumon, addressing Tyler and Volpesmon, the former of which had to fight back a yawn as he nodded back. "Now, time for breakfast!" He turned to the young Digimon and began issuing orders. "Koromon and Tokomon, get some sticks for a fire. Tokomon and Tsunomon, see what you can find in terms of berries and fruit. The rest of you, go fishing!"

At his words, the Digimon dispersed. As Tyler watched three Digimon that looked identical bounce off together, he found himself wondering how Agumon could tell them apart; they even had the same names. Something told him that it might not be a good idea to ask, though, so he forced his curiosity down as they waited.

Soon, the Digimon returned, first the ones with the wood, then the ones with the fruit, and finally, the fishing team returned with two catches. The fruit was passed around while the fish were skewered and Agumon lit a fire with the wood (Tyler flinched a little upon seeing the small dinosaur Digimon's fire breath again, given his most recent experience with it). Tyler ate with the rest, noting that, while he was hungry, he seemed to have less of an appetite than usual. It was quickly forgotten, though, as they finished up and Agumon asked, "So, now what for you?"

Volpesmon answered. "We think Tyler may have a brother somewhere around here. We need to find him and make sure he's okay."

"You wouldn't happen to have any idea where he might be, would you?" asked Tyler, though he knew it was a long shot.

Agumon shook his head. "No, sorry…but I know that, whenever someone around here has a question they can't answer, they go to see Wizardmon."

"Wizardmon?" said Tyler.

"Yup. He's supposed to be really wise. I've never met him, but I've heard."

"Then we'll seek 'im out," said Volpesmon. "Where does he live?"

Agumon scratched his head. "Let's see…I think it was…that way?"

He pointed, but another of the Digimon, a white quadruped with two antennae, spoke up. "No, Agumon, he's over that way!"

It gestured in another direction, but was soon contradicted by another Digimon. Within a few seconds, most of them were bickering amongst each other, each with a different idea of where Wizardmon was.

Volpesmon shook his head. "This isn't gettin' us anywhere…"

"Oh, wait!" exclaimed Agumon. "I think…yeah, he lives on a hill. So, if you can find a hill…"

Volpesmon moved right away, climbing up one of the nearest trees to look around. "I see some hills a bit of a ways away," he called down.

"Then let's try over there!" said Tyler, getting more anxious by the minute.

Volpesmon nodded, and quickly rejoined him on the ground. "Well, we need to go, Agumon. Thanks for everythin'."

"You're thanking _us?_" said Agumon. "You saved us, Volpesmon. Both of you." He pointed at them. "We won't forget that."

A chorus of thanks rose up from the young Digimon, and, waving goodbye and promising to see them again, Tyler and Volpesmon took their leave.

* * *

Now that they were on track to rescuing his brother, Tyler found a sense of urgency returning to him, and he sped up his pace as they made their way towards the hills. "Hey, hang on," protested Volpesmon after a few minutes, when he began to lag behind. "Your legs are longer than mine."

"Sorry," said Tyler, but he barely slowed down.

Volpesmon frowned, and put on a burst of speed until he had drawn level with his partner. "You that anxious about gettin' to him?"

"Yeah," said Tyler. "I mean…he's my brother. We've…we've really been through a lot together."

He slowed as he remembered the days after their parents' deaths. Tom had really been integral for helping him—both of them, for that matter—cope and get past it. And with no other relatives available to take care of a minor, Tyler had fallen into Tom's care, who, Tyler knew, had always done the best that he could to take care of him.

Volpesmon noticed the change in his partner's demeanor. "Somethin' the matter?"

"Nah. Just…just thinking back."

"Somethin' you want to talk about?"

Tyler hesitated. "Not really."

They walked for another few seconds in silence before Tyler sighed. "Tom was really there for me when our parents died three years ago."

"Oh. I'm…I'm sorry to hear that."

Tyler shrugged. "It's fine. We've made it past that." He hoped Volpesmon wouldn't notice the shakiness in his voice. But, whether or not he did, the fox Digimon did not pursue the subject.

The silence continued until Volpesmon drew himself to a halt. "Hang on," he said, his voice low.

The tone of his voice was enough to draw Tyler's attention. "Is something wrong?" he asked, his voice also lowered.

Volpesmon narrowed his eyes in the direction of some particularly thick trees. "Maybe…" He crept closer.

An instant later, Tyler's question was answered as a green blur shot out, bowling Volpesmon over. "Volpesmon!" called Tyler.

The fox Digimon was up on his feet again right away, glaring at what—or rather, who—had knocked him down. "Snimon!"

Tyler turned his head. Facing them was something that he could best describe as a giant mantis, only it was hovering with its large wings, had no eyes and a mouth full of sharp teeth…and two razor-sharp scythe-like blades at the ends of its arms.

It cackled. "So! The rumors were true! A human in the Digital World!"

"Digital World?" said Tyler.

Volpesmon snarled. "None of your business, Snimon!"

"But of course it is," the giant mantis replied. "It is the business of all Digimon when our world is invaded by an outsider."

"Invaded?" said Tyler. "I'm not—"

Snimon swiped a blade in his direction. "Don't try to deny it. You're here, aren't you? You're a human, aren't you?"

"Uh, yeah, but—"

Snimon's mouth widened in a smile. "Guilty!" He raised his arms. "Time to administer the punishment!"

And before Tyler could respond, he yelled out, "Twin Sickles!"

Two pink arcs of light flew from his blades, aimed right at Tyler. "Tyler!" Volpesmon yelled, and tackled him to the ground just in time; Tyler could feel the attack as it passed over his head.

Snimon growled. "Don't get in the way, foxy, or you'll be next!"

Volpesmon whirled around to face his adversary. "Tyler's my friend. You're not gettin' to him without goin' through me first!"

The mantis Digimon rubbed his blades together. "Very well, then. This could be interesting…"

And he launched himself at Volpesmon, who responded in the same manner, drawing back his arm. "Enforcer's Hand!"

He slammed his paw into Snimon's head, who was sent flying back with a howl. "Good shot!" said Tyler.

Volpesmon's eyes narrowed. "It'll only make him angry."

He was right. Seconds later, Snimon was facing Volpesmon again, a bruise on his head but no sign of slowing down. "Lucky shot," he snarled. "I'll see that you don't get another one!"

He renewed his attack, much more savagely than before, so that Volpesmon was forced to defend himself. "Tyler!" he called. "Snimon's too strong for me now! He's Champion-level! I need to Digivolve!"

"O-okay!" said Tyler. He looked down at the watch-like device on his wrist, looking for the button that would prompt Volpesmon's change.

But it wasn't there. Frowning, he ran his eyes over the screen, looking for anything that might lead him to it. Upon noticing the red meter labeled "DV," he remembered that that had been full the previous evening, when Volpesmon had Digivolved. _That must be what "DV" stands for,_ he thought. _Digivolve. And so when it's full, he can turn into Alepomon._

One problem, though. It wasn't full. It was at about halfway, and noticeably climbing, but not full. And the longer the battle was drawn out, the more chance Volpesmon had of getting hurt—or worse.

Tyler gritted his teeth. "C'mon, faster!" he growled at the screen.

He thought he saw the meter jump slightly, but it might have just been his imagination. In any case, it still had a lot of empty space.

He looked up. Volpesmon was still holding his own, but there was no telling for how much longer he could pull it off. And he was slowing down. Snimon, noticing this, let out another cackle and pressed his attack even further, one of the blades slicing right through Volpesmon's coat. "I have you now!"

Tyler looked back at the Digivolve meter. It was only at three-quarters, and Volpesmon was about to lose…

Suddenly, another voice rang out. "Pathetic."

Everyone present turned in the direction of the speaker, and Tyler's jaw dropped. Standing several feet away, hands on her hips, was a girl. Another human! And—almost an even bigger shock—he recognized her. He had vague memories of being in classes with her in school…though he couldn't have given her name.

Next to her was another Digimon, floating several feet in the air. It resembled little more than a metal ball with arms (and small guns mounted on the hands), and it had a glass bar with a white light in the center that Tyler guessed, given its structure and placement, worked as its eyes.

The girl pushed a strand of black hair out of her face, looking sternly at Tyler. "You can't even get your Digimon to Digivolve? What are you doing here?"

With a slight jolt, he realized she had been referring to him with her "pathetic" comment. He frowned. "Hey, lay off. I'm new to this."

She raised an eyebrow. "No familiarity with the rules of the Digital World?" She sighed. "I suppose it falls on me to save you, then."

Snimon turned his body to her. "Save him?" He snarled. "You're another human! You have no business being here!"

The girl ignored him, and instead held out her arm, causing Tyler to notice that she wore a watch very similar to his—only hers was a dark green color. She pushed a button on the side of it, and a red light shone out, bathing Snimon in a pale scarlet glow. A second later, it faded, and the girl looked at her watch's screen. "Snimon," she said. "Champion-level, Vaccine attribute. Attack: Twin Sickles. Likes to throw itself around, but is really little more than a bully and a coward who will flee when confronted with an opponent stronger than it is."

Tyler blinked. Had she just gotten all that information on Snimon from her device? Could his do that, too?

Snimon bristled. "What did you call me?"

Again, the girl ignored him, instead turning to the Digimon beside her. "This shouldn't be difficult, Bitmon. Get ready."

The Digimon—Bitmon—drifted forward. "Fine!" said Snimon, advancing on his new opponent. "Someone else to crush? Works for me!"

He started forward, but at that moment, the girl touched the screen on her watch and held it up so that it faced her Digimon. Tyler barely got a glimpse of a green-tinted screen before a white light shot out and surrounded Bitmon. It expanded, growing to a much larger sphere, from which a robotic-sounding voice could be heard.

"Bitmon Digivolve to…Bytemon."

The light faded to reveal a large spherical Digimon, about six or seven feet tall. It had the same rectangle-eyes as Bitmon, but its skin—or metal coating, whatever—was a slightly darker gray. It stood on two sturdy-looking feet, and it had powerful-looking arms extending from the sides of its sphere.

Tyler frowned. _Bitmon? Bytemon?_ Was this Digimon just named after units of digital storage? There was a bit of cleverness in it, maybe…but after that wore off, it just seemed silly.

But, if it was on his side, he couldn't really complain.

Snimon leapt back slightly. "Think you can scare me with that? Think again!" He extended his arms. "Twin Sickles!"

The pink arcs of light flew out again, as Tyler watched with baited breath. Bytemon didn't look fast enough to dodge them…

But, as it turned out, it didn't have to. The arcs of light collided with its metal body, leaving barely a scratch. As Snimon let out an exclamation of dismay, Bytemon turned its body towards him. "Seeking Laser," it said in the same flat, robotic voice.

A panel on the top of its head opened, and a mounted gun rose up. It wasn't too large—probably about a foot in length—but it still managed to be intimidating. It oriented on Snimon, and a red light burst out, rapidly closing the distance between the two Digimon. Before Snimon could properly react, it struck him in the chest, and he fell to the ground with a cry.

The girl nodded. "That's it. One more should finish it off."

Tyler frowned. He had no love for a Digimon that had attacked him out of nowhere…but Snimon was now on the ground, seemingly powerless. Wasn't it a little…well, cruel to just kill him like that?

Volpesmon thought the same thing, and stepped forward. "Hang on. He's beaten; I think that's enough."

The girl's eyes turned to him for a moment, but she said nothing and turned back to Bytemon, whose gun oriented on Snimon again. "Hey," said Tyler, more forcefully. "Don't just ignore him like that."

She turned to him, her face still a cool mask of condescension. "I have no need to listen to what other Digimon say. This is my game. I am in control."

"Game?" said Tyler incredulously. "What, you think this all is a game?"

She blinked. "Of course. But, I forgot, you are unfamiliar with the situation you are in." She turned away from him. "Perhaps I will explain after Snimon is destroyed and its Extra Data loaded."

"_His_," said Volpesmon. "Snimon's male."

"It is a digital program. It has no true gender."

This girl was really starting to get on Tyler's nerves. "Jeez, lighten up, would you? Who are you to say stuff like that?"

"Someone who has a clue what is going on and is not completely out of place here."

Now he was angry. "Does everything that comes out of your mouth have to be a goddamn insult?"

"And now you are resorting to profanity. I see no reason to continue this conversation."

Tyler was about to make a retort when he heard movement to his side. He turned and was just in time to see Snimon leap up and zoom off (though a little slower than before), disappearing into the trees.

The girl's eyes narrowed. "You have cost us a victory. I will not forget this."

"Boo-hoo," Tyler said mockingly.

She raised an eyebrow. "I would have thought you'd be more polite to me, since I have already stated that I have information that you do not."

Oh…he hadn't thought of that. "Sorry; I just have a gut reaction to…to people who aren't very nice."

"I am being rational. Of course, this is not good news for you; I see no rational reason to explain anything, now."

"How about that my death will weigh on your conscience if you don't?" _If you have a conscience,_ he mentally added.

She paused. "You are rather incompetent…yes, it may, in fact, be dangerous to leave you so uneducated."

The insults were getting really unnecessary…but Tyler wanted to know what the hell was going on, so he kept his mouth shut.

The girl continued. "Through methods that I am unfamiliar with, you and I have been imported into the game of Digimon Net."

"Digimon Net?"

"An online role-playing game that allows players to take control of an avatar, partner up with a Digimon, and explore the Digital World."

So, the name of this place was the Digital World, then.

She held up her arm, displaying the watch on her wrist. "Avatars, with the help of their Digivices, train Digimon to be their fighters and protectors. We have now taken on the role of the avatar, meaning that we are now digital beings. Much like the other inhabitants of this world—only we are not programmed to act in a certain way. We possess a free will." She frowned. "Which may have adverse effects on the game, introducing such unpredictable elements into it. Another reason to always act rationally; if the computer can predict our doings, there will be less risk of a malfunction."

Tyler didn't quite catch all of that…but he did note that, if rational actions were supposed to reign here, he had already messed that up a couple of times. He couldn't find it in himself to regret it, though; any consequences couldn't be worse than what would have happened if, say, he hadn't gone back for Volpesmon in the fight against Tyrannomon.

…Right? "What do you mean, malfunction?"

"There is a whole host of possibilities. It is best not to tempt fate."

"Okay, fine. So…how do we get out of here, then?"

Her frown deepened. "That is what I have been trying to figure out."

"I thought you said you knew what was going on."

She twitched slightly. "I would be much closer to my goal if I wasn't driven out of Aksesu City."

"Aksesu City?"

"Of course. There are several different kinds of terrain in the Digital World: forest, city, mountain, and ocean, to name a few. When I first came here, I found myself in one of the cities, specifically, the one called Aksesu City. As it was where many computers and machines were located, I set about looking for information about this place, and a way out. Unfortunately, Megadramon appeared, and—"

"Megadramon?" said Tyler.

She blinked. "You are familiar with it?"

"I am familiar with _him,_ yes. He attacked the forest just yesterday. Caused a lot of destruction."

"Hm." The way she was reacting, he might as well have been telling her they had a substitute teacher that day for whatever class they were in together. Not even that, actually—that would raise questions about who it was, what had happened to their original teacher, what they were doing today, et cetera. It was almost as if this girl just didn't care about anything.

She continued speaking. "Megadramon attacked the city, and I was forced to flee. Bitmon and I made it to the neighboring forest, and have been looking for an opportunity to return since. In the meantime, we have been training, and growing in strength." Her voice took on more of an edge. "We would have been able to load that Snimon's data if you hadn't interfered."

"Excuse me for caring about others," said Tyler.

She didn't react. Instead, she turned to Volpesmon, who raised an eyebrow. "You got some more stuff to add?" he asked.

But instead of speaking, the girl turned her watch—her Digivice—to him and repeated the same process that she had with Snimon: pushed a button and a red light shone on Volpesmon for a second before she looked at the screen. "So, this is what you have chosen for a partner," she said. "Tyler Grayson."

Tyler was getting ready to make a comment about her use of the word "what" instead of "who," but her use of his name threw him off. "How…oh, right."

"So, you recognize me."

"Yeah."

"Then what is my name?"

Well, this was awkward. "Um…I don't think we've ever actually met."

"Mr. Davis has spoken my name during roll call."

Davis…English! They were in English together. "He's only done roll call a few times this semester."

"Enough for me to learn names."

"Well, not me. So, sorry, I haven't met you and I don't know your name. Mind giving it to me?"

She seemed to consider the possibility for a few seconds before shrugging and saying, "Mara Nell."

Nell…where had he heard that name before…it sounded familiar, but he couldn't quite remember where it might have been from. "Well…thanks for the information, Mara." He didn't enjoy thanking her, but she had just helped him out.

She blinked. "You are welcome," she said, though it carried a tone of reluctance that suggested she didn't really want to say it. Then, she frowned and turned to Bytemon. "You have been in your Champion form for far too long. You will need to learn to release it when your business is finished." She pressed the screen on her watch again, and a light surrounded Bytemon and flew back into the device, leaving Bitmon floating in place.

"I apologize, mistress," said Bitmon, his voice (the voice was hard to place, but sounded male) as devoid of emotion as Mara's had been, if not more.

"See to it that it does not happen again."

"Yes, mistress."

Mistress? The hell? He was calling her _mistress?_ "Great relationship you've got with your partner there," said Tyler sarcastically.

"I command, it acts," said Mara. "It is the way it should be."

Volpesmon snorted. "Ain't you compassionate."

She ignored him…again. "And it is hardly your place to criticize."

"What's that supposed to mean?" demanded Tyler.

"You may have an idea of what is going on, but you are still far less familiar with everything than I am."

He scowled. "I'm free to voice my opinion in this situation, irregardless of—"

"That's not a word."

He patience snapped. "How about 'screw you,' then?"

"That is two words. And it is also sufficient to convince me that any more time spent with you is time wasted." She turned around. "Come, Bitmon."

And she walked off, followed by her floating partner—though that word didn't really apply to their relationship, did it?

Tyler rolled his eyes. "Good riddance."

* * *

Mara had to admit, she was a little disappointed. When she had first heard the rumors that there was another human in the Digital World, she had thought he or she could be of some assistance somehow. Then, she had seen him. Tyler Grayson, a boy from her class whom she had never seen put a lot of effort into anything, talking to his Digivice to try to get it to work. His prospects had diminished rather significantly—but there was still a chance that he could be useful. So she had stepped in to save him.

Then he had stopped her from finishing her battle with Snimon. And put on such a display of temper and irrational behavior that she was surprised that he hadn't altered the system already. Noticing that it would have been a fool's errand to attempt to change his ways, she had deduced that the best possible option was to put as much distance between them as possible, so as to minimize the chance that any malfunctions that he might cause would affect her, as well.

In any case, she needed to return her focus to getting back to Aksesu City. She had taken a small detour to look for Tyler, but, with it being a waste of time, she could return to her main focus, with nothing to slow her down now.

That is, until Bitmon stopped moving forward. Knowing that it would not do so without sufficient reason, Mara did the same, and waited for a report.

It was not long in coming. "Preliminary scanners detect possible hostiles up ahead," said Bitmon.

"Then collect what other information you can about them," replied Mara calmly.

The Digimon did not reply to her, but instead put its efforts into carrying out her orders. "Scanning Activate," it said. Its vision bar glowed red as it swept the area, high-powered sensors more than capable of detecting danger.

The red glow faded as Bitmon began speaking again. "Two Digimon ahead. One matches the data of Snimon. The other, unidentified Champion-level Virus attribute."

Snimon and another Champion…That the other Digimon was a Virus was a small cause for concern, since Virus Digimon had a slight advantage over Data Digimon like Bytemon, but, then again, she had not trained her Digimon to be so vulnerable. "That will not be a problem," she said confidently.

She checked her Digivice. The Digivolve Meter was a little less than halfway full. She knew that it would rise faster when confronted with enemies…but that would take too much time, and there were other methods of speeding up the process.

She tapped the Digivolve Meter twice, and it opened up a new menu, upon which she quickly tapped the "Import Booster Chip" option. As she did so, a small slot opened on one side of her Digivice, and she reached into her pocket and pulled out a small collection of computer chips that she had obtained in the city. Selecting one that had the letters "DV" on it and an up arrow, she put it into the slot. With a clicking sound and a small flash of light, her Digivolve Meter was now almost full. "Perfect," she said. "Let us proceed."

They continued through the forest until a small clearing came into view. "They are located in there?" said Mara.

"Scanners indicate affirmative," replied Bitmon.

Mara nodded and walked forward—right into the trap. Something sticky was stretched across the entrance to the clearing, something that she could barely see. Something that she had felt before, in the real world…

She scowled. She had walked into a spider web.

Ahead of her, Snimon came into view, cackling. "Ha, ha! Missed that one, didn't you?"

Mara ignored it and looked around for the second Digimon, the one who had made the web. It didn't take long; up in a nearby tree, looking down at her, was the culprit, a giant spider with a yellow face, nine green eyes, and a mane of red hair. That must be the Virus Digimon…but without her left arm, which was trapped in the web, she couldn't use the scanning function on her Digivice.

Fortunately, Bitmon was not trapped. She had heard it use its scanners to locate the weak points on the web, and now it spoke again. "Deletion Laser."

With two quick and precise bursts, Mara was freed. Moving quickly, she pointed her Digivice at the spider Digimon and scanned it, then read the information that came up. _Dokugumon. Champion-level, Virus attribute. Attacks: Poison Cobweb, Poison Thread. A crafty Digimon whose specialty lies in trapping its opponents, then finishing them off at its leisure._

Well, the trap had failed. "Bitmon!" she called as she looked at the Digivolve Meter. As expected, it was now full, and the "Digivolve?" option was up on the screen. Without a moment's hesitation, she pushed it, and the white light enveloped her Digimon.

"Bitmon Digivolve to…Bytemon."

The giant Bytemon lumbered forward into the clearing, where Snimon was, despite its previous defeat at their hands, still cackling. "Good! I wanted to get my revenge on you."

Bytemon didn't respond. "Seeking Laser," it said, and the barrel on top of its head rose up again, and fired.

But Snimon was more prepared this time. "Twin Sickles!" it yelled, rapidly firing off two arcs of light.

Seeking Laser was an attack that could change its trajectory based on the opponent's movements. It veered around the first arc of light…but, to Mara's surprise, collided with the second one, resulting in an explosion that filled the clearing with a bright light. Mara shut her eyes, but it was a second too late, as the image was temporarily burned into her retinas. She hoped that it wouldn't interfere with Bytemon's scanners.

She opened her eyes and blinked rapidly to get rid of the image. Snimon was flying in seemingly random patterns around the clearing. As for their other foe, however…

Mara frowned. Dokugumon was nowhere in sight. Where had it gone? Had it fled at the sight of the light? She thought it not improbable; with nine eyes to take that in, it had to have had a greater impact than—

"Poison Thread!"

Behind them! Mara whirled around as a burst of web shot out at Bytemon from behind—or, to be more precise, four bursts, each one aimed at a limb. In a second, Bytemon's limbs were trapped. It would have very limited movement now…but Bytemon didn't need to move, so long as it could orient on its opponents with its gun. Even as Mara thought that, the barrel swiveled around to face Dokugumon.

But the spider Digimon was too quick and clever. Another burst of web flew straight at the top of Bytemon's head, covering the barrel. Bytemon reacted quickly, firing off a shot to clear the webbing. It worked—but there was a new problem. The webbing had stuck in the gun's rotating mechanism. Mara saw the gun wiggle from side to side, but it could not regain enough movement to orient on their enemies.

She backed up. Bytemon was powerless…but it seemed the Digimon were mainly concerned with it as a foe. Perhaps she could sneak away…

"Poison Thread!"

A strand of webbing interrupted her thoughts as it rocketed toward her, enveloping her in a tight bind. Losing her balance, she fell to the ground with a grunt as Dokugumon scuttled up to her. "Don't think we've forgotten about you," it jeered. "We'll deal with you as soon as Snimon is done over there."

Mara looked over to see Snimon hovering in front of Bytemon, a broad smile on its face. "Twin Sickles!" it yelled, firing off its arcs of light. They hit Bytemon and barely left a mark, but it didn't seem to deter the insect Digimon. "Twin Sickles!"

Two pink arcs of light slammed into Bytemon again. "I don't care how tough you are," said Snimon. "I'll get you to crack eventually!" It continued its assault. "Twin Sickles! Twin Sickles! TWIN SICKLES!"

* * *

The encounter with Mara had left both Tyler and Volpesmon in a sour mood. The five or so minutes after her departure were spent complaining about her behavior—by both human and Digimon. "Did you see her? No concern at all for other Digimon," said Volpesmon.

"Especially you. She barely acted like you were there," added Tyler.

"She was rude to me, yeah, but what about you? Did she say a single sentence to you that wasn't somehow an insult?"

"Didn't feel like it."

"Can't imagine what it's like to be her friend."

"Probably irrelevant; I doubt she has any."

"Good point."

They continued for a while before Volpesmon gave a dismissing wave of the hand. "Eh, forget about her," he said. "She can deal with her problems, we'll deal with ours, yeah?"

"Yeah," Tyler agreed. "Let's get going to Wizardmon's."

They continued their journey until Volpesmon stopped, ears twitching. "You hear that?"

"Hear what?" said Tyler, also drawing to a halt.

Volpesmon frowned. "Sounded like a voice. A voice yellin'…" He sighed. "'Twin Sickles.' Snimon must be on the move again."

"What?" said Tyler. "He's going after someone else?"

"Apparently." Volpesmon jerked his head. "C'mon, let's see who it is."

They ran in the direction Volpesmon had indicated, and a thought came to Tyler. "You don't think…we were wrong in stopping them from finishing him, do you?"

"No way. For one, there was no tellin' what he would do next; he might've been willin' to surrender. For another, it's just not right to kill a defenseless enemy."

Tyler nodded. "Yeah…yeah, that's true."

As they kept going, the sounds of battle became more and more pronounced…though really, it was just Snimon yelling "Twin Sickles" over and over. "How many times does he need to do that?" asked Tyler in an undertone.

Volpesmon gritted his teeth. "Too many."

A clearing became visible ahead, and they slowed down. "Think you can Digivolve me this time?" whispered Volpesmon.

Tyler looked at his Digivice, remembering he actually did have Mara to thank for learning its name. The "DV" meter was almost full. "Yeah, I think so."

"Good. Then let's see what's goin' on."

They peered into the clearing…and saw what they didn't want to see. Mara and Bytemon were being held captive—by some sort of spider web, judging by the giant spider that stood next to them—while Snimon rained blow after blow on the latter, who, despite his solid metal body, was looking like he was taking a beating.

Tyler and Volpesmon shared a look. Then, they both sighed. "They look like they need help," said Tyler.

His partner nodded. "Yeah."

"And we can't just leave them."

"No, we can't."

The screen on Tyler's Digivice glowed red, and he looked down to see that the "Digivolve?" option was on the screen again. "Then let's go," he said, and pushed the "Yes" button.

* * *

Mara was just thinking of ways to convince Snimon and Dokugumon to leave her alone if Bytemon ended up being destroyed—and how she was going to get along in the Digital World without a Digimon partner—when a flash of light erupted from the trees next to her, drawing the attention of all four of them in the clearing. A second later, a voice rang out. "Volpesmon Digivolve to…Alepomon!"

She blinked in surprise as a Digimon came bounding out of the trees, evidently the Champion form of Tyler's Digimon. It looked very similar to Volpesmon, the only main differences being an increase in size and the pair of guns it was carrying.

Her eyes darkened. Was it here to take Snimon and Dokugumon for itself? Or did Tyler want revenge on _her_ for earlier? Had they been following her, waiting for the right mo—

"Vulpine Shot!" yelled Alepomon, cutting into her thoughts. A burst of fire erupted from each one—in the shape of a fox's head, no less—and rocketed towards its targets: Snimon and Dokugumon. Dokugumon scurried away, but Snimon was caught off guard, and the fire hit it in the abdomen. "Yaaah!" it screeched as it fell back, smoke floating up from the wound.

Dokugumon scurried up a tree. "Poison Cobweb!" it yelled, and spat a mist of poisonous gas at Alepomon. But, as Mara had to admit, Alepomon was a lot faster than Bytemon, and so it was not shocking to see it leap out of the way, angling for Dokugumon. "Muscle Blaster!" it yelled.

Two flashes of light burst from its guns. With a _boom_, the branch that Dokugumon was hanging onto was blown to bits, and it fell…just as Alepomon's second blast hit it in the face. A direct, powerful hit like that…Dokugumon didn't stand a chance. Its face seemed to cave in before cracking, and a second later, it burst into thousands of data particles. Mara watched them fly away, and felt a combination of annoyance and personal pride. Tyler was still inexperienced enough to not be familiar with data absorption…but that meant that she did have some advantages over him, even if his Digimon was doing what hers hadn't managed to.

And speaking of Tyler, he had crossed the distance between them and had set to work tugging at the thread that bound Mara. Surprisingly, it ripped apart very easily…but, as Mara observed the same thing happening with Bytemon, she realized that it was due to Dokugumon's destruction, rather than any feat of superhuman strength on Tyler's part. Turning her attention to Snimon, who was just recovering from Alepomon's attack, she called out, "Bytemon! Finish this!"

On the ground, Snimon raised its head…just in time to see Bytemon's gun barrel pointed at it. And, to its credit, it moved quickly, leaping up and swinging at Bytemon—but not quickly enough. Two precise and powerful bursts of energy shot out, blasting Snimon to pieces. As soon as it happened, Mara looked at her Digivice and selected the "Absorb Extra Data" option that had sprung up upon Snimon's destruction. Her Digivice glowed, and Snimon's Extra Data flowed into it, leaving only its Base Data to reconfigure.

She looked around. Tyler was standing next to her, Bytemon was reverting back to its Rookie form, and Alepomon was striding towards them. Out of habit, she pointed her Digivice at it and moved to select the Scan option…but before she could, the side of a gun barrel was pressed against the screen. Looking up, she saw Alepomon looking at her with narrowed eyes. Then, it said, "Alepomon. Champion-level, Vaccine attribute. Attacks, Vulpine Shot, Muscle Blaster, Bruiser's Kick. I'm loyal and competent when it comes to fightin' for my friends, but I can get dangerous when I'm angry…like, for instance, when someone treats me like just a bunch of data instead of a thinkin', caring being."

Its eyes darkened, trying to drive the point home even more, but it was unnecessary; Mara had gotten the message. She would need a different approach than normal when dealing with this Digimon.

Her eyes drifted to Tyler again, who was looking from the spot where Snimon was destroyed to Bitmon hovering nearby to Alepomon to her. She could see a thought forming in his head, as well as a reluctance to voice it on his face. Fortunately for him, though, she was thinking the same thing. "I agree."

Tyler blinked. "Huh?"

"You were just thinking that it would be worth it for us to join forces, at least for a small while. Were you not?"

He still looked surprised. "You some kind of mind reader?"

"I am simply observant. Besides, it is the logical thing to think." _Despite you having come up with it as well,_ she thought. "In that battle there, we were each able to deal with a certain part of it, playing to our own strengths and…giving each other's Digimon some support." She folded her arms. "Despite our personal differences, I cannot ignore the fact that, as the saying goes, there is strength in numbers. And since we appear to be working towards the same goal, it may indeed prove to be beneficial to work together."

Tyler glanced at Alepomon, who gave what looked like a resigned shrug, and nodded. "Yeah, all right," he said. "I think we can work together for the time being."

Mara returned the nod. _Let us hope so._

* * *

**A/N: That was a lot longer than any other chapter so far, but I felt that it was appropriate for what went on in it. Also, for anyone who doesn't like Bitmon/Bytemon's name, there is a rationale behind it…but I can't tell you what it is yet. Keep reading to find out that and more!**


	7. 6: Alliance

**A/N: I haven't updated in a while because I've been pretty focused on studying for a big exam that I took a few days ago. And so while I don't anticipate being able to rapidly update from now on, I do think I will be putting out more chapters more quickly.**

* * *

Chapter 6: Alliance

It wasn't really to anyone's surprise that an argument sprang up between Tyler and Mara not two minutes after the formation of their alliance. After they had agreed to work together following the defeat of Snimon and Dokugumon, they headed off to their destinations—walking in completely different directions. They stopped, and the issue of where to go arose, Tyler wanting to continue to Wizardmon's, Mara wanting to make her way back to the city. "I need to find my brother," argued Tyler. "Wizardmon might have an idea of where he is."

"And it might not," Mara countered. "By contrast, there are a number of computers located in Aksesu City. It is quite possible that one of them will be able to track the movements of humans in the Digital World."

"And it might not. Look, I need to make sure I cover every single possibility of things that can help me track down Tom. And Wizardmon isn't too far away."

Mara frowned. "Is there any guarantee that your brother is, in fact, in the Digital World? As you said, he did not give any indication as to his current location."

"No, but…where else could he be? Isn't it most likely that he's also here?"

Mara thought. "If he is here, then that means he was able to find a way to contact the outside world from within…" She nodded. "Which is indeed a plausible scenario. And which would further mean that he knows something about the connection between the two worlds. Yes, I do believe it would benefit us to locate him."

Tyler gritted his teeth. "We're finding him because _he's my goddamn brother._ I don't care how useful he is, we're finding him."

Surprisingly enough, Mara seemed to be almost remorseful. "Forgive me if I seemed like that was irrelevant. I was merely offering another incentive."

"Do we need one?"

"Perhaps not." She paused. "I do have a brother as well."

"Really?"

"Yes. He, like your brother, was involved in the development of Digimon Net. In fact, I believe he mentioned Thomas Grayson on a couple of occasions."

"He did? What's his name?"

"Bartholomew. But he insists on being called Bart."

Tyler snapped his fingers. "Bart Nell! _That's_ where I know it from!" Mara looked at him quizzically, so he elaborated. "I thought I had heard the name Nell recently, and that's where. Tom asked me to call him and ask for help before I was sucked in."

"Did he?" She folded her arms. "We will have many questions for them when we see them next. However, we have been diverted from our original point: our next destination. I continue to hold that the city has tools that will be useful to us in achieving our objectives."

"Wizardmon is closer."

"But in a different direction."

Tyler thought. Mara may have been lacking in empathy, but he had to admit, she had more knowledge about the situation than he did. Was it possible that traveling to the city area was their best course of action right now?

Then, Volpesmon offered his opinion. "It might be worth it to visit Wizardmon first. He's closer, and we wanna explore all our options, right?"

Mara looked at him, and Tyler tensed up, expecting another patronizing response from her. But, she surprised him a second time with a slow nod. "It is possible," she said, turning back to him, "that your Digimon—who was originally placed into this program—will do well when it comes to giving us, the players, hints of where to go."

It took Tyler a second to take it in, and while she still wasn't speaking directly to Volpesmon, she was at least acknowledging him—not only that, but admitting that what he said had meaning. "Yeah," he said. "Yeah, let's head on over there first. Then to the city." He added that second part both to placate the girl who was now his companion and because he was starting to see her logic, and believe that it was genuinely a good idea.

So they set off for Wizardmon's at a brisk pace. Mara seemed to be in a particularly good mood—or at least, better than when they had met earlier—as she was willing to answer most of his questions. He learned a lot about the Digivices, from their scanning and analyzing capabilities to data absorption—a topic that required a bit more explanation. According to Mara, Digimon were made up of two kinds of data: Base Data and Extra Data. Base Data was what defined a Digimon's species, while Extra Data contained their experiences, personalities, memories, and so on. Therefore, absorbing a Digimon's Extra Data upon their destruction (Base Data could not be absorbed) would put them through the process of rebirth that Volpesmon had described earlier. "Hang on," said Tyler. "I've heard that, when Digimon are destroyed, they lose their experiences and memories no matter what. Does that always happen even if the Extra Data isn't absorbed?"

Mara blinked, and, after a moment's pause, turned to Bitmon. "Bitmon, do you know the answer?"

"Affirmative," he said. "A Digimon's Extra Data will often dissipate into the environment after its destruction, and end up being absorbed either by the terrain or by other Digimon."

"You said 'often,'" Tyler commented. "So Digimon can be destroyed without losing their memories and everything?"

"Affirmative. But the probability of that is low, estimated at 8.54 percent."

"Uh…that is low."

He thought he saw Mara raise an eyebrow at his words, but if she did, she had lowered it by the time he looked back at her. Nevertheless, condescending though she might be at times, their partnership was off to a less rocky start than he had imagined. Who knew, it might work out.

* * *

Behind him, though, his partner Digimon wasn't as confident. The way Mara was saying things, it sounded like he was (supposedly) part of some human creation in another world. Well, he had known about humans, who lived in a different world than his, for…for as long as he could remember, actually. But for them to be their creators? It was a little unnerving—yet how else would Mara know all of this information about Digimon?

He frowned. He didn't like the way thoughts like that pointed. And Tyler was being a bit too attentive to them for his comfort. Unfortunately, he was walking in the front with Mara, while Volpesmon was stuck in the back with Bitmon.

That was another thing that made Volpesmon uneasy. He really wasn't sure what to think of Bitmon, the odd name notwithstanding. Similar to his partner, he seemed emotionless, like a pure machine. Volpesmon did get bothered when others used "it" to refer to a Digimon…but if any Digimon _could_ have that pronoun applied to them, Bitmon would be his top pick. He had no readable feelings on his face—he barely had a face, for that matter—and his voice was completely flat and devoid of inflections. Volpesmon didn't even bother to try engaging him in conversation. Instead, he was stuck walking silently with only his troublesome thoughts to keep him company. It got to the point where, after a few minutes, he began straining his senses for any sign of trouble nearby. But the day was too calm; he did not see, hear, or smell anything that might indicate any particular activity that would require their attention.

Around midday, they stopped to briefly forage for food—according to Mara, the avatar bodies did not need as much food as humans did in their own world, but it was still a necessity. So, after grabbing some berries, having Bitmon confirm they were safe (though Volpesmon could have done that; he recognized them from having eaten them himself on previous occasions), and eating them, they resumed their journey.

This time, though, things were different. Mara wanted Bitmon at the front, since his scanners would be especially proficient at picking up potential dangers. (Again, Volpesmon felt a little shunned; what did they think his own senses could do?) So Tyler was forced to the back, to Volpesmon's relief. Unfortunately, he soon found out that conversing was more difficult than anticipated; both he and his partner (from what he could tell) weren't quite as at ease talking openly with Mara and Bitmon just a few feet away. Still, anyone was a better traveling companion than Bitmon. And conversation wasn't _completely_ closed off between them. "You ever been to see Wizardmon?" Tyler asked.

Volpesmon shook his head. "I actually haven't heard that much about him. But what I have heard is pretty much the same as what Agumon said."

"Wise and all that?"

"Wise and all that."

"Uh-huh. Great, then."

That was about it for that subject. Volpesmon held back a scowl. This was not how he pictured the dynamic between him and his partner. Sure, they hadn't always talked during their conversations, but there wasn't always something to say—or, in the case of Tyler talking about his parents' deaths, it was better to remain silent for the other's benefit. Here, though, Volpesmon could think of a couple topics of conversation he wanted to bring up, but didn't feel comfortable doing so with Mara right there.

Then, he got his chance. At one point during their travels, he picked up the sound of running water, and ventured the question, "Anyone thirsty?"

The others stopped, Mara looking thoughtful. "It would be beneficial to our avatars' well-being," she said. "Bitmon, scan for nearby water sources."

"No need," said Volpesmon, fighting back an urge to snarl in frustration. He pointed. "There's water a little ways in that direction."

Mara blinked. "Bitmon, confirm."

It took Bitmon a couple seconds to complete his scanning, during which time Volpesmon couldn't help but feel resentful—and not just at Mara. Didn't Tyler believe him? Why was he, also, waiting on confirmation?

At least it wasn't long in coming. "Confirmed. Approximately one-point-thirty-three miles from our current position."

Mara nodded. "A detour, but we will have to take what we can get. Let's go."

They had to travel off the path and venture into the trees to go straight there. Mara and Bitmon led the way, with an agitated Volpesmon stomping behind, and Tyler bringing up the rear. Glaring at the backs of those he was unfortunate enough to be allied with, Volpesmon let his thoughts seethe. Mara wasn't ignoring him anymore, but he wasn't getting nearly the respect that he deserved. He could tell that she still thought of him as little more than a collection of data, despite the warning he had given her as Alepomon.

Then, his thoughts turned to Tyler. He may not have the same callous attitude that Mara did…but there were other problems. Ever since their alliance, Tyler seemed to have given over all authority to her. Granted, Mara was certainly competent enough to lead them, but nowhere near compassionate enough. How could he look up to her if she performed all of her actions without any regard for the feelings of others?

Okay…he was thinking about himself there. Being shunned by Mara wasn't nice, but it was more or less expected. But to feel like Tyler was moving in that direction, too…

It was a lot worse. They had already gone through one hard spot with Tyrannomon, but at least then Volpesmon could look back and see that he wasn't being completely reasonable, that they could share the blame. Here, though…what was he doing that might put him at fault? He wasn't forcing Tyler or anyone into any uncomfortable positions like before. He wasn't being particularly unpleasant—at least, not without provocation. So what was up with Tyler this time?

Finally, they reached the source of the water—a waterfall running down a small cliff, where a pool had collected at the bottom. "Told ya," said Volpesmon.

Mara did ignore him this time, and turned to her own partner (if Bitmon could be called that). "Is the water safe to drink?"

One quick scan later, Bitmon answered. "Affirmative."

"Then we have come across a valuable resource," said Mara, and went over to the base of the falls, Bitmon following.

Tyler jerked his head. "C'mon, let's get some, too."

He walked off, leaving Volpesmon gritting his teeth. "You're welcome," he growled. But the others were too far away to hear.

* * *

The water did taste good, and felt welcome after all of the walking they had done, which placated Volpesmon somewhat. And then, Mara announced her intentions to scout over the top of the cliff. "We need to have as complete a knowledge as possible of the surrounding terrain," she said. "Seeing what is up there—both the source of this water and anything else that the high ground will allow—will be beneficial in that regard."

Tyler, sitting on the grass, leaned back on his elbows. "Fine by me," he said. "I'm gonna take a bit of a break."

Mara gave him what could be considered a condescending look, but didn't say anything, and walked over to the cliff with Bitmon.

Volpesmon shot a sideways look at Tyler. His partner was, indeed, taking a bit of a break; he had lain down on his back and let out a sigh, closing his eyes for a minute. Maybe now wasn't the best time…

The fox Digimon shook his head. No—if not now, when? So, making sure Mara and Bitmon were out of earshot, he went up to Tyler. "Hey."

Tyler opened his eyes. "What's up?"

Volpesmon nodded in Mara's direction. "What d'ya think of her?"

Tyler shrugged. "Not the easiest to get along with, but she knows a lot, and she's willing to help us out. And she's better than before." He grinned. "I think I can keep it up a bit longer."

He must have noticed Volpesmon's scowl, because his grin disappeared and he asked, "You got a problem with her?"

"A couple bones to pick."

"Really? She's not ignoring you anymore."

"Sometimes doesn't feel that way."

"What do you mean?"

"Back there just now. She didn't seem to believe me when I said there was water nearby."

"She didn't?"

"You don't remember? She asked _Bitmon_ to do a scan an' see if I was tellin' the truth."

"Oh." Tyler scratched his head. "Maybe she just wanted to make absolutely sure, or something. She seems particular that way. Well, in a bunch of ways, I guess."

Volpesmon raised an eyebrow. "Really? Is that why you didn't speak up?"

Tyler frowned. "Huh?"

Volpesmon turned his head and didn't respond; he hadn't exactly meant to come right out and say that. But he had said enough. "Hang on…" said Tyler, sitting up. "You're angry at _me_, aren't you?"

Volpesmon kept quiet for another second, then said, still not looking at Tyler, "You could make it seem like you were on my side a few times."

"What? When? I am on your side, Volpesmon. I've spoken up for you before."

"But now that she's got all this information that you're drinkin' in, you're a little less attentive, huh?"

Tyler narrowed his eyes. "What's gotten into you? You weren't pissed off at me for running away from Tyrannomon, but you're pissed off at me for this?"

"Oh, I was pissed off at ya for runnin' away from Tyrannomon. I just realized that I mighta driven ya to do it, later on, after you came back."

"Oh, but now you're blameless?"

Volpesmon glared at him. "You wanna say somethin' about my actions?"

"I don't know," said Tyler, throwing his arms up. "Maybe Mara just needs some time to get used to you. And maybe I want to give that to her."

Volpesmon bared his teeth. "And me? I'm your partner, Tyler. I've made it clear that you come first in my priorities. Where do I lie on yours?" Another thought struck him. "Or are you so eager to get out of here that I'm just an afterthought?"

"What the hell gave you that—"

"One of the first things you asked Mara was how to get out of here. Is leavin' your main goal here?"

"I have a life back in my world! I can't just abandon that! And people would get worried if I went missing! Should I just forget about them?"

"So what, I'm just a temporary stand-in?"

Tyler glared at him. "You're being completely unreasonable."

"Yeah? Well, I've had a bit of a rough last few hours, either being ignored and kept in the back with the emotionless wonder or feeling too oppressed by Mara to express all my thoughts and feelings."

"Oppressed? Now you're just being melodramatic."

"Thanks for the sympathy."

Tyler scowled. "You want sympathy? Want me to take care of you like a nice little baby?"

"Oh, so askin' for a common kindness makes me a baby, huh? Y'know, I'm startin' to—"

An explosion at the top of the cliff cut off his next words, and both jerked their heads over. "Sounds like trouble," Tyler growled.

Volpesmon snarled. "Good, I could use somethin' to hit."

Both rushed over to the cliff, to the rocks that led to the top. Tyler was first to the bottom because of his longer legs, but Volpesmon was more agile, and so was able to scale the cliff quicker. Upon reaching the top, he did indeed find the scene of a battle waiting for him. Mara and Bytemon were already there, Bytemon's gun trained on the large pool of water—actually, it wouldn't be unfair to call it a lake—that lay at the top. As Volpesmon watched, he said, "Seeking Laser," and a burst of energy shot out and hit the water's surface, fizzling out.

And, a second later, their enemy burst out of the water.

Volpesmon took a step back. He considered himself pretty familiar with other Digimon, but he hadn't been to the sea regions, and so water-dwelling Digimon weren't his forte. As such, he didn't recognize the one that was in front of him. It had a long, blue, serpentine body with a white belly, and a yellow mask covered its face.

Behind him, Tyler, who had just reached the top, let out a gasp. "The hell is that?" he said.

Without taking her eyes off of her adversary, Mara answered. "Seadramon. Champion level, Data attribute. It's been causing us some trouble with its Ice Blast attack and constantly ducking back into the water."

Seadramon opened its mouth. "Ice Blast!" it said, as if to drive the point home.

A burst of ice flew out of its (or rather, his—the voice was male) mouth, straight at Bytemon. At the last minute, he managed to fire off another Seeking Laser, preventing the attack from freezing him over completely. With a sound that mirrored the explosion they had heard before, the ice burst into small chunks and flew outward. One was headed right for Volpesmon, but his reflexes wouldn't allow that to hurt him. "Enforcer's Hand!" he yelled, his hand smashing through the ice.

But the act had shifted Seadramon's attention to him. His eyes narrowed, and, a second later, his mouth opened again. "Ice Blast!"

Another blast of ice followed, this one aimed at Volpesmon, who just managed to dive to the side. "What's goin' on?" he yelled.

"Protecting its territory, evidently," said Mara. "It attacked soon after we arrived."

"Then let's get out of here!" said Tyler.

"Negative," said Bytemon, not taking his attention away from Seadramon. "Its temper is such that, once it begins facing an enemy, it will not back down until it or its enemy is destroyed. Retreating would open us to another attack."

Still glaring at them, Seadramon sunk back into the lake. Volpesmon took the opportunity and turned to Tyler. "I need to Digivolve to beat that guy."

Tyler checked his Digivice. "Yeah, well, good luck with that, because your Digivolve Meter isn't full yet."

Volpesmon snarled. This "meter" decided whether or not he could Digivolve?

He heard a sigh behind him, and turned to see Mara reaching into one of her pockets. "The Digivolve Meter will rise faster with more Digivolutions," she said. "But in the meantime…" She extracted what looked like a computer chip from her pocket, looked at it, and tossed it to Tyler. "Insert this. Tap on the meter and select the 'Import Booster Chip' option."

Tyler, looking a little surprised, caught the chip and then looked at his Digivice. It took him a moment, but he seemed to figure it out, as he put the chip next to the Digivice and it slid in. A second later, he grinned. "We're in business," he said. "All right, Volpesmon, let's go!"

He tapped the screen again, and the white light shot out of it and enveloped Volpesmon, giving him the power surge he needed to Digivolve. "Volpesmon Digivolve to…Alepomon!"

As soon as the Digivolution was over, Alepomon sprang forward, eyes scanning the surface of the water. He wasn't kidding when he said he needed something to hit…but unfortunately, Seadramon wasn't making himself visible. "Where are you…?" he growled.

"It is using hit-and-run tactics," said Mara. "It strikes, then retreats and waits for us to make a move before striking again."

"Then let's give him a reason to come up!" Alepomon pointed his guns at the lake. "Muscle Blaster!"

Flashes of light erupted from the barrels, and, less than a second later, the shockwaves hit the water, blasting it up into the air. It was clearly what Seadramon had been waiting for, as he burst from the water before it had settled. "Bytemo—" Mara began, turning to her Digimon.

But Alepomon wasn't going to give her the chance. He leapt forward, swinging his foot at Seadramon's head. "Bruiser's Kick!"

The attack connected—but he had underestimated how solid Seadramon's mask was. As a result, both combatants were injured, Seadramon letting out a roar and Alepomon wincing as the pain traveled up his foot.

Unfortunately, self-injury wasn't the only consequence of his failing to think ahead. He had been planning on jumping back to shore after his kick, but his injured foot made him flounder in doing so…and he fell into the water. After being briefly submerged, he brought his head above water, looking for his opponent.

He didn't have to look far. Now that an enemy was in the water, Seadramon smelled blood. He lunged for Alepomon, jaws open, and the fox Digimon barely managed to bring up his arms fast enough to hold him at bay. And even then, he struggled, barely keeping Seadramon's jaws open with his own upper body strength.

"Seeking Laser," came a voice from the shore. A second later, a bright red burst of energy hit Seadramon in the eye. Roaring in pain, the serpentine Digimon stopped his attack on Alepomon and fell back into the water.

"Alepomon, get out of there!" Tyler yelled.

But Alepomon hesitated. Part of him wanted to prove himself, to show his capability to a team that seemed to be having doubts about it. If he could beat Seadramon in his own element…well, wouldn't that be impressive?

Then he realized that he had dropped one of his guns in his attempt to save himself from Seadramon's jaws. That would cut his power a bit…but not entirely. He could still do this.

That was when he felt something wrap around his lower body and, before he could react, he was pulled under. He thought he heard Tyler shouting, but the sound was muffled by the water that now surrounded him. Quickly, he drew his remaining gun and peered through the water to get a look at his foe. This time, Seadramon wasn't trying to hide. He had a huge advantage and he knew it. In fact…was that a smirk on his face?

_Smile at this,_ Alepomon thought savagely, and pointed his gun at Seadramon's face. "Vulpine Shot!"

A burst of fire erupted from the barrel—and immediately fizzled out, unable to survive in water. As Alepomon looked at the gun in horror, Seadramon opened his mouth. "Ice Blast!"

Forcing himself to recover, Alepomon tried a different tactic. "Muscle Blaster!"

But this attack didn't get far, either, the shockwave hitting the water directly in front of him with a _boom_. It did stop the advancing ice, but it would be no use in actually attacking Seadramon. And if that was the case, Alepomon didn't see what he could do in his scenario.

He felt the serpentine Digimon's coils around him tighten, and let out an involuntary grunt. This was bad…he was losing air…

But he wasn't done yet. Leaning over, he sunk his teeth into Seadramon's tail, and he saw his foe's eyes widen in pain and rage. More importantly, he felt Seadramon's grip on him loosen, and he shoved outward with all four of his limbs. _Yes!_ he thought as he felt Seadramon's long slippery coils fall away from him. He reached upward, about to propel himself upward, and to back above the water.

Then, to his horror, he felt himself being dragged down again. Looking down, he saw that the very end of Seadramon's tail was wrapped around his ankle. He was caught once again.

More than that. Still fiercely glaring at him, Seadramon pulled him even further down, at greater speed, and let go. Fortunately, Alepomon's movement through the water was much slower that it would have been through air, so he didn't sink too far. Unfortunately, that gave Seadramon the chance to bind him again, even tighter this time, it felt. "You will not get away," the serpentine Digimon hissed. "Ice Blast!"

This time, Alepomon was not fast enough to react, and he felt the ice freeze over his upper body, sans the head. Now he really couldn't do anything—his arms were frozen, his legs were constricted, and he couldn't last much longer without air. _Really screwed this one up,_ he thought.

Actually, he really had. He had let his frustration get the better of him, and charged into a battle recklessly. Right after an argument with Tyler, too. Now, in all likelihood, the last memory of him that Tyler would have would be their argument. Great way to be remembered…

He could feel himself losing consciousness, and he found that his last thoughts before doing so turned to his partner. Hopefully Tyler could get along without him…he was pretty strong, after all.

And then there was Mara. She'd make it, too…but could she help him? Would she help him? A lot of what he'd seen from her suggested that she was only interested in looking out for herself. There was indeed a possibility of her deserting Tyler after this was over.

And yet…Alepomon couldn't help but remember that there were a couple of times when she had acted otherwise. She had seemed invested in the prospect of finding Tom, for one. And even though she hadn't treated _him_ with much respect, she had been cordial to Tyler after the formation of their alliance. Not to mention that she did know a lot; there was no denying that. As he thought about it, Alepomon found himself growing more confident that she would, indeed, be helpful to Tyler. They'd be able to work things out…together…

Through the haze of his vision, he saw Seadramon open his mouth one last time.

* * *

The instant that Alepomon went through the water, Tyler was shouting to Mara. "We've got to get him out of there!"

Mara frowned. "Our options are limited. Bytemon's attack, as we have seen, has very limited effect on or under water. And I doubt Seadramon will come up until after it has finished off Alepomon."

"Then we need to do something now!"

"I agree that the situation is rather dire…but I do not see many options." She looked down at the water. "We may have to cut our losses. Leave now while Seadramon is distracted, and—"

She blinked and cut herself off upon seeing that Tyler's face was inches from hers, eyes burning. "Look," he snarled, jabbing a finger at her chest, "we made an alliance. We agreed that we would work together. That means helping each other out…and Alepomon is included in that! We are going to think of a way to save him!"

"This is a notable display of loyalty for someone who, as far as I can perceive, was arguing with his partner not minutes ago."

She really was perceptive…but now was not the time. "Yeah, so? People get into arguments, but still care about each other. People and Digimon, for that matter. So I don't care what we said to each other two minutes ago—I'm going to save him if I have to dive in there myself!"

Mara clearly was not expecting such vehement declarations, but, after a second, nodded. "Give me a moment."

Tyler stepped back and alternated between watching her and watching the water. He wasn't kidding about jumping in, especially if things started to look really bad for Alepomon. Of course, he could barely see a thing…which made him even more anxious about what was happening to his partner.

But then, Mara spoke, her tone businesslike. "Bytemon, retreat from the center of the cliff as quickly as possible."

Both she and her Digimon did so, Tyler following their lead. "Now," she said, once they had retreated far enough, "destroy the cliff."

As Bytemon turned his gun to the cliff, Tyler turned to Mara. "What?"

"We need to get both Seadramon and Alepomon out of the water," said Mara, raising her voice to be heard over the laser fire that Bytemon was now producing. "If we destroy the cliff, the water will flow out onto the lower ground, exposing both."

Tyler turned to the cliff, which was now significantly crumbling and sending water flowing into the pool below. That did sound like it could work…but would it be in time? Alepomon had been under for a little while now, and against someone like Seadramon who would be in his element…

Suddenly, he spotted a flash of black among the water. "There!" he said, pointing.

It was Alepmon's fedora, and, to his relief, it was still on its owner's head. "He's there! Alepomon's there!"

"I see," said Mara. "Which means Seadramon…"

A split second later, the serpentine Digimon's yellow mask broke the surface, furious eyes looking for what had dared to so disturb his lake. And the moment he did, Bytemon's gun was on him. "Seeking Laser."

The first burst hit Seadramon in the eye again, and he roared and reared upward, ready to strike back. But he was too slow, and the second burst pierced his body, right below the head. After giving a strangled cry, he fell forward, disintegrating into data particles as he did so.

But Tyler was only half paying attention, always keeping an eye on Alepomon. He was floating along, head sometimes clearing the water—and he didn't look conscious. As he bobbed towards the ruins of the cliff, Tyler noticed that his arms had been frozen. "Alepomon!" he yelled, hoping to get his attention.

His partner did not respond, and continued to float away, out of arm's reach. Tyler could only watch as he approached the edge and went over, into the expanding pool below. Jumping to his feet, Tyler raced down the cliff as quickly as he could without getting himself hurt and ran over to the water's edge. "Alepomon! Where are you?"

A few seconds later, Volpesmon bobbed to the surface, a few feet from the waterfall and several feet from the edge. He was still unconscious, but at least it looked like his arms were no longer frozen. Still, it was apparent that he needed help.

Tyler stepped towards the water, then hesitated, looking down at his Digivice. Was it waterproof? Would he ruin it if he went in, and prevent Volpesmon from Digivolving again?

He narrowed his eyes. Well, better he be alive and unable to Digivolve than dead. And so, he dove into the water.

Tyler wasn't an expert swimmer, but he was able to get to Volpesmon without too much trouble, despite the now-giant waterfall that was sending more and more water in all directions. "Volpesmon!" he yelled, but his partner was still unresponsive. Grabbing him with one arm, he kicked out, propelling them both back to shore…but swimming was harder with just one arm. He couldn't carry them far enough.

Then, he felt the water from the waterfall pushing him away, back towards land, and hope surged within him. Kicking out again, he saw the shore get closer and closer, until finally, his feet touched solid ground. He staggered out of the water, breathing heavily from the effort, and let Volpesmon sink to the ground, kneeling down a second later. "Volpesmon, c'mon, wake up!"

Volpesmon's eyelids flickered, and he coughed weakly. Then, he coughed harder, and water came up. "Uhhhh…" he groaned.

Tyler gave a sigh of relief. "You gonna be okay?"

"You'll have to move further away for that."

Tyler looked up to see Mara and Bitmon standing and hovering next to him. "This pond is being flooded," Mara continued. "With luck, it won't disrupt the area too much. But it does require us to move further away."

He turned around to see that she was (admittedly not surprisingly) right; the inch-deep water that he had been standing in was fast approaching his ankles. "Right," he grunted, and reached down to pick Volpesmon up. But the fox Digimon was heavy, and he was still a little out of breath. As he tried to lift his partner, he heard a small sigh from Mara. "Bitmon, give him assistance."

The robotic Digimon moved over next to him, dropped down, grabbed Volpesmon with his arms, and lifted him up. "Uh…thanks," said Tyler, stepping away.

Mara jerked her head. "Let's get moving."

* * *

They retreated to a safe distance before Tyler checked on Volpesmon again, who was steadily regaining consciousness, much to the former's relief. "How are you doing?" he asked, once Volpesmon was aware enough to respond.

The fox Digimon blinked slowly. "Feel like crap."

"You were under for a long time. I'm just glad you…you can still talk to me."

Volpesmon looked around. "What…what happened?"

"Well…" Tyler looked over at Mara and Bitmon, who were watching from a short distance. "I did have to do a bit of convincing, but they managed to get you out of there."

"Really? How?"

"Mara got Bytemon to destroy the cliff and drain the lake. They took out Seadramon, too."

Volpesmon looked at them. "Huh." Then, something caught his attention, and he turned his gaze back to Tyler. "Your clothes are wet. Did you fall in?"

"Uh, no, I came in to get you."

"You did?"

"Yeah."

Mara spoke up. "Does your Digivice still function?"

"Um…" Tyler looked down at his wrist, and saw that the screen still had its normal display. "Looks like it."

She nodded. "So, they are waterproof, then. It's not too surprising, especially considering how important they are."

"But…you didn't know that they were?" said Volpesmon, addressing Tyler.

"Uh, no, I didn't."

Volpesmon stared at his partner for another moment before bowing his head. "Then I owe you an apology. I shouldn't have accused ya of not carin' about me."

Tyler put a hand on his shoulder. "It's all right. And if something's ever bothering you again, you can always come talk to me about it."

Volpesmon smiled. "Thanks."

Tyler made to smile back, but a shiver ran down his spine. "Whoo! Sorry."

Mara frowned. "You may want to find a way to dry off. I'm not certain how the avatar bodies are equipped to deal with being completely wet like this."

Tyler looked around. "You got a towel?"

"No, I do not," she replied dryly. "However, Bitmon may be able to light a fire, given some kindling. You can use that to warm up." She hesitated. "It may also be beneficial for you to remove most of your clothing. That will allow it to dry, as well as prevent you from becoming any more cold and wet." She looked around at the surrounding trees. "We will collect wood for a fire and bring it back here. Then you can dry off."

She started to walk off, but Volpesmon stopped her. "Hang on."

She stopped and turned her head to glance at him. "Yes?"

Volpesmon seemed hesitant, but got the words out anyway. "Thanks for savin' me. I mean it."

Mara blinked, then gave the smallest of nods. "You are welcome."

Then, she and Bitmon walked off, eyes and scanners searching for dry wood.

Volpesmon looked back at Tyler. "Okay, you were right. She ain't all that bad."

"No," Tyler agreed. "It may be tough some times…but other times, it really works out."

"Well then…" Volpesmon folded his arms behind his head. "If you think we can make it work, I'm willin' to give it a shot, too."

"Sounds good to me."


	8. 7: Wizardmon

Chapter 7: Wizardmon

It took a little while, but, with Mara's help, Tyler was much dryer than he would have been otherwise. His clothes were still damp when they resumed their journey, but he knew they weren't going to dry immediately, and the thought of his brother kept him from waiting longer. Fortunately, the sun's rays helped both to warm him up and continue to dry him off as they continued walking. And, adding to their good luck, they encountered no more hostile Digimon before getting to Wizardmon's.

Unfortunately, their luck ended there. Wizardmon's house was in sight, and, as Agumon had said, it was on a hill…but he had left out a few details. For one, it was a large and very steep hill, which, on its own, would take a lot of energy to climb. For another, the hill was overgrown with gnarly trees and thorny bushes, which seemed to cover every inch of the surface except the top, where an old hut stood. "He doesn't seem that eager to have visitors," said Tyler.

"Unsurprisingly," said Mara. "If Wizardmon is a renowned source of information, there will be precautions in place to prevent simply anyone from asking questions. Evidently, we have to show our worth, somehow."

Tyler folded his arms. "Does that involve getting ourselves scratched a hundred times?"

"I doubt it would be as much as a hundred. In any case, I would hazard a guess that there is another, safer route to the top."

Tyler was just trying to figure out whether she was being clever with her first sentence or if she really didn't understand hyperbole when Volpesmon offered a suggestion. "Can you fly over? Maybe Bitmon can make it, and either get Wizardmon himself or help us from the other side."

Mara nodded. "It is worth a try. Bitmon, do so."

The robotic Digimon moved forward, hovering higher and higher over the plants that blocked their way. It looked like he might make it—but then, suddenly, a thorny tendril extended from the mass of foliage and shot at him, wrapping itself around his arm and dragging him down. Fortunately, due to the Digimon's metallic covering, it didn't seem to do much harm, but the tendril did not release him until he was back where he started. Then, it unwrapped itself from his arm and retreated, lying in wait for the next Digimon who attempted a shortcut.

"Evidently, this was designed so as not to give flying or levitating Digimon an advantage," said Mara, undisturbed by what had just happened.

Tyler, by contrast, was still staring at the thorn bushes. "How…did Wizardmon enchant those, or something?"

"Apparently," replied Mara. "This Wizardmon may have more power than we had originally thought."

Tyler looked up at the house on the hill. "Let's hope we don't have to fight him or anything."

"I doubt it," said Volpesmon and Mara simultaneously—and both looked surprised that they had agreed on something. Mara shook it off first and went on. "If Wizardmon is a source of help for Digimon, I would not expect it to show violence."

"Him," Volpesmon muttered under his breath.

Mara gave no indication that she had heard. "Either way, Wizardmon's personality will not matter if we cannot make it up the hill."

Tyler folded his arms. "Okay…but how is that going to happen?"

Volpesmon looked at the trees. "We might be able to get through. Let's see…"

He walked up to one of the trees, one with a low-hanging branch, leapt up, grabbed on and pulled himself onto it. From his vantage point, he looked around. "Yeah, it looks like we can go this way," he said.

"What way?" asked Tyler.

Volpesmon pointed. "The branches stretch out close enough to each other that I bet we can jump between them."

"Jump? Isn't that a little dangerous?"

"Maybe. But it may be our only way to reach Wizardmon."

Tyler thought about his brother, and nodded. "All right, let's go."

They walked over to the tree that Volpesmon had climbed up. Bitmon floated up to the level of the fox Digimon, then Mara and Tyler grabbed the branch and hauled themselves up. It was small enough that they had to stand close together so as to not fall off, which left Tyler sandwiched between the trunk and Mara as they planned their next move. "Over there," said Volpesmon, and he jumped, landing nimbly on a branch just a couple feet away. Bitmon followed, keeping to Volpesmon's exact route so that he wouldn't be caught by the thorns again. Next was Mara. She stepped forward slowly, and, with a look of concentration on her face, jumped forward, landing on the thick branch ahead (with Bitmon to steady her).

Finally, it was Tyler's turn. After briefly gauging the distance, he took a couple of running steps and jumped, making it to the next branch but, like Mara, needing his partner Digimon to keep his balance. "That wasn't so hard," he said.

"Good, 'cause we got a lot more to go," said Volpesmon, indicating the maze of foliage that still stretched out before them.

Fortunately, it seemed to get easier after the first try. Volpesmon, of course, was athletic enough to make each jump with ease, and Bitmon had no trouble, as long as he didn't try to take a shortcut. Mara also displayed somewhat athletic traits, leaving Tyler feeling like the one having the most trouble. But if his companions were annoyed, they didn't show it—except for when, after one jump, his balance faltered, and he instinctively reached out and grabbed Mara's hand to steady himself. She helped steady him, but frowned nonetheless, and he let go. "Sorry."

She turned away to survey their progress. "We're only about halfway there. Are we certain this is the quickest route?"

"It's the least painful," said Volpesmon. "Unless you can see something else."

"I cannot," she said. "Bitmon, have your scanners detected anything useful to us?"

"Negative," Bitmon said after a moment. "Unidentified enchantments have been applied to the bushes and trees, but it is impossible to determine their natures."

Tyler gritted his teeth. "Isn't there some way of letting Wizardmon know we're here and need his help? As soon as we can?"

Volpesmon shrugged. "Shoutin'?"

"I doubt the sound would carry," said Mara.

Volpesmon raised an eyebrow. "I know; I was kiddin'."

Tyler saw Mara's eyes narrow, and spoke up before she could make a retort. "Then let's keep going. If this is the only way, we'll have to do it as quickly as possible."

Hoping to further emphasize his point, he stepped forward, around the others, in line to jump onto the next branch. "Uh, Tyler?" said Volpesmon. "Maybe I shoul—"

"I'll be fine," said Tyler, and jumped. At first, he wondered if he should have let Volpesmon go first; it looked like he might not have a very firm footing when he landed. His feet hit the tree branch, and he inadvertently stumbled a bit, his balance threatening to be thrown off. Frantically, he windmilled his arms, trying to stay upright—and after a couple frightening seconds of thinking he wouldn't make it, he felt his balance become firmer, until he was standing straight on the branch.

He let out a small sigh of relief and turned his head back to the others. "See? No problem."

Then he pivoted with his right foot…and slipped. His arms reached out for something to grab, but there was nothing, and before he knew it, he was falling backward into space. "Tyler!" Volpesmon yelled, but was helpless otherwise. Tyler could only brace himself as he made contact with the sharp thorns and the hard ground. A cry of pain escaped him, both from the cuts and the impact—not to mention the thorns that were still poking into him.

"Tyler!" Volpesmon called again. "Are you okay?"

Tyler groaned. "Not really…"

"All right, just hang on, we'll see if we can get ya out—"

But he stopped, and a second later, Tyler realized why. The thorny bushes were receding. He felt the thorns pull away from his body, and though it didn't help with most of his pain, he was grateful to be no longer lying in a cluster of them. With some effort, he managed to sit up, and was even more surprised with what he saw. Not only had the thorny bushes pulled away from him, but they had been retracted all along the hill. And not only the bushes, but the tree branches, too—so that a straight, clear path led right from their position to the top.

Volpesmon jumped down from the tree branch and ran over to him. "How are ya?"

Tyler grimaced. "I'll live, but it hurts."

"We'll ask Wizardmon for help. C'mon, now…can you stand up?"

"Probably."

Volpesmon grabbed his hand and pulled, and Tyler was able to heave himself upright. "Thanks."

"Sure thing."

By then, Mara and Bitmon had joined them on the ground. "This is unexpected," said Mara.

Volpesmon nodded. "No argument there. Why'd the bushes pull back like that?"

She folded her arms. "I cannot say for certain…Perhaps to injure ourselves in the attempt to reach Wizardmon is a mark of our determination."

Volpesmon made a face. "That seems kind of harsh."

Tyler nodded. "Great, we'll kick Wizardmon's ass when we get there. But can we get there first?"

No argument was made, and the four of them followed the path up to the dark shack at the top of the hill, Tyler's injuries making them go at a slower pace (which, thanks to the steepness of the hill, wasn't very fast to begin with). Finally, though, they made it, and stood in front of the old wooden door. "Think he's inside?" said Tyler, panting.

"He better be," said Volpesmon, and knocked.

* * *

Mara was just wondering how long the wait to see Wizardmon would be when the door opened, and she drew herself up to meet the new Digimon. It was a humanoid Digimon, wearing a one-piece yellow outfit that had more zippers than she thought necessary. On its hands and feet were gloves and boots (respectively) of the same shade of brown. A dark blue cape with a collar that covered the bottom half of its face was fastened at its neck with a button in the shape of a skull. Another skull rested on its pointed hat (which was the same color as the cape), and it carried a staff with what looked like a model sun on the end.

It surveyed them with its green eyes, partially hidden underneath light brown hair. "So, it is you who come seeking me," it said. It had a soft voice that was, Mara could tell, meant to be male.

Volpesmon spoke up. "Yeah, it was us," it said. "Thanks for the warm welcome."

Wizardmon inclined its head slightly. "My apologies," it replied, "but I had to make sure you truly wanted to reach me."

"Well, we do," said Volpesmon. "And my friend here had to really prove it."

Wizardmon turned to Tyler. "It was not my intention to hurt you," it said. "Please, come inside, and I will see to your injuries."

It stepped back, and Tyler and Volpesmon walked in, closely followed by Mara and Bitmon, the former of whom quickly took stock of the inside of the shack. It wasn't a tiny place, with a table, chairs, a cauldron over a fire, several bottles of what looked like ingredients (and potentially even medicines) lining the shelves on the walls, and even a staircase that led to an upper level. Mara briefly found herself wishing they could spend time there, instead of having to sleep outdoors on the ground, but quickly dismissed such thoughts.

Wizardmon walked over to one of the bottles on the wall, took it down, and opened it. "This salve will help with your scratches," it said to Tyler, and gave him the bottle.

Volpesmon frowned. "Do you have a lot of visitors who get hurt by your thorns?"

"Some," the other Digimon replied calmly.

Volpesmon folded its arms. "Y'know, it almost seemed as though your thorn bushes were waitin' for one of us to fall in."

"What do you mean?"

"The bushes pulled back right after Tyler fell in. What was that about?"

Wizardmon's gaze went back to Tyler, who had opened the bottle and was beginning to apply the mixture to his injuries. "My defenses are intended to deter other Digimon. No humans. As soon as they recognized him, they receded."

Volpesmon's annoyed look did not abate. "So we went through all the trouble jumpin' through the trees for nothin'?"

A flitting thought crossed Mara's mind, but she recognized it and dismissed it before it could become coherent.

"You have proved yourself to me," said Wizardmon. "I now have a respect for you that I would not have had otherwise." It nodded at Tyler. "As soon as he is finished, I will do my best to give you assistance in your troubles."

It stood patiently as Tyler continued to treat his wounds. Mara watched him, feeling slightly annoyed that he was still holding them up—after all, he was the one who was so desperate to ask Wizardmon about his brother—but she had to feel _some_ sympathy for him, as he had (if inadvertently) given them an easy path to Wizardmon.

She folded her arms, continuing to reflect on their alliance. Tyler did have many flaws, but their existence was not her problem—only if he put herself in danger with them. He was very emotional, which she didn't think highly of, but he and his Digimon were useful. She didn't think Volpesmon liked her very much, which only bothered her insofar as having a Digimon angry at her was something she wanted to avoid, knowing the immense power that these creatures—digital creations, she corrected herself—held.

And she could relate to Tyler's desire to save his brother; in her experience, the one person she could truly say she cared for was her own brother. If he was in trouble, no doubt she would want to help him, though she would not passionately throw herself into it like Tyler seemed to be doing. She would look at things from a calm and rational standpoint, and determine how best to proceed. As she always did.

Tyler finished treating his wounds and handed the salve back to Wizardmon. "Thanks," he said. "That stuff really helps."

"I am glad," the Digimon responded, and replaced the bottle. "Now, what is it you wished to see me about?"

Tyler launched into his story, which, Mara realized, she had not heard in its entirety. He told Wizardmon how he, in the real world, had been looking for his brother when he had heard a voice from his computer, and how Tom had managed to somehow contact him. He skimmed over a lot of his time in the Digital World, but did bring up a story about saving a group of Digimon from a vicious Tyrannomon, which Mara had not heard before, but found not all that surprising; from what she had seen, it had fit Tyler's personality very well. He was lucky that he hadn't gotten killed.

At that thought, she realized she had a question of her own for Wizardmon: were they in any sort of legitimate danger? She had been treating her situation as though the answer was yes, but had considered the possibility that, should their avatar selves be destroyed, the game would simply end and they would be transported back to their homes. For a game, it was not an illogical conclusion—yet this game was unlike any she had ever known before, and it would be reckless to test such a theory.

"…and I have no idea what's happened to him," Tyler finished. "I mean, I've been getting by, but how can I know if Tom is, too? Or if he's even here?"

Wizardmon nodded. "So you want to know where your brother is, and if he is safe."

"Yes."

The sorcerer Digimon looked thoughtful. "I have been feeling reverberations in the Digital World as of late, and did recently identify many of them as being caused by humans."

"Reverberations?" said Mara. "Does that imply that our presence here is disturbing the Digital World?"

Wizardmon turned its gaze to her. "I would not say disturbances," it said. "But the introduction of humans into the Digital World has certainly led to alterations."

"What kind of alterations?"

"It is impossible to identify them all. Certain changes in behavior, for one thing."

"Behavior?" said Tyler, looking worried. "Like the Digimon who have attacked us so far?"

"Possibly," said Wizardmon. "As I said, they are difficult to determine."

"We'll worry about 'em later," said Volpesmon. "What about Tyler's brother?"

For a few seconds, Wizardmon did not voice a response. Then, it said, "From the information you have given me, and from what I know myself, it does indeed seem likely that he is here…but let me ask a couple of questions."

To Mara's surprise, Wizardmon turned to her. "I assume you have been brought here in a similar manner to him."

She nodded. "I had no communication with my brother beforehand, but I did inexplicably find myself in the Digital World after accessing a computer with the Digimon Net game on it."

It blinked. "The Digimon Net game…"

Mara hesitated, silently weighing the benefits and detriments of telling Wizardmon about the game. She had told Tyler because he was another human, but she could tell the news had had an effect on Volpesmon—or at least, Volpesmon's code—and she was wary of anything that might cause them to lose Wizardmon as an ally. But this Digimon was clearly programmed to be more calm and logical than Volpesmon; it would be unlikely to be upset if she told it the truth. "A program that both of our brothers were involved with," she said. "I believe this Digital World is a manifestation of that game."

Wizardmon frowned, and for a moment, Mara couldn't help but worry that the news would have an adverse affect on it, as well. But then, it spoke. "That is…an interesting matter, undoubtedly. One that does merit further thought…But, in the meantime, when would you say this happened to you?"

"It was almost three days ago."

Wizardmon's eyes turned back to Tyler. "And the time that your brother disappeared?"

Tyler thought. "Uh, well, the last time I saw him was…" It took him a couple seconds, then he said. "About three days ago."

Wizardmon nodded. "That does not surprise me. It seems reasonable to conclude that, three days ago, a small handful of humans were transported from your world to the Digital World. In that case, I believe that I can confidently say that your brother is, indeed, here."

"Where?" said Tyler.

"That, I do not know for certain. However, you may be able to trace his location through the use of one of the large computers in the Digital World. From here, I would recommend traveling to Aksesu City, to the west."

"I have been to Aksesu City," said Mara, doing her best to keep a tone of smugness from her voice. "I was accessing the computers there before I was driven out."

"Driven out?" said Wizardmon.

"A Megadramon attacked the city, and I was forced to leave."

"Megadramon? Do you know why?"

"No. I just saw it causing destruction, and knew I had to leave the city."

Volpesmon piped up. "Megadramon attacked a part of the forest yesterday, too."

Wizardmon nodded. "Yes, I felt it happen."

"Is that another one of those behavior changes that you mentioned?" said Tyler.

"I would not be surprised if it was," said Wizardmon. "But," it added, "do not think to blame yourself. You had no part in your coming here, and it was not you alone who may have contributed to these alterations."

Mara was surprised by Wizardmon's empathy, but didn't show it. She was about to suggest they continue to Aksesu City when she remembered something Wizardmon had just said. "You said a small handful of humans were brought to the Digital World three days ago," she said. "Does that mean there are more?"

"It does," said Wizardmon. "But only one that I sensed." It held up a hand with all five fingers extended. "I have only sensed five humans in the Digital World: the two of you, two others that also arrived three days ago, and one more that seems to come and go. That one…it is intriguing, but I am afraid I know little about who it might be. As for the other two, we have safely determined that one is Tyler's brother."

"What about the other one?" said Tyler. "There might be someone else in trouble here!"

Wizardmon shook its head. "That is not the case."

"What? How do you know?"

It looked at them both. "Because I have met him. And, more than that…" It raised a finger to point upwards at the ceiling, to the second floor. "He is upstairs right now."


End file.
